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EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH  BULLETIN  NO.  22 


BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH 
COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION 


CONSERVATION  OF  INTELLIGENCE 
IN  ILLINOIS  HIGH  SCHOOLS 


By 


Charles  W.  Odell 

Associate,  Bureau  of  Educational  Research 


Price  30  cents 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS,  URBANA 

192S 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Page 

Introductory  Statement 5 

Chapter  I.  The  Conservation  of  Human  Intelligence 7 

Chapter  II.  The  Data  Used  in  this  Study 13 

Chapter  III.   The  Intentions  of  High-School  Seniors  Rela- 
tive to  Higher  Education 20 

Chapter    IV.      The    Vocational    Choices    of    High-School 

Seniors 30 

Appendix  A.   Information  Blank  for  High-School  Seniors  49 

Appendix  B.    Differences  Among  Illinois  Seniors 51 


INTRODUCTORY  STATEMENT 

In  this  bulletin  Dr.  C.  W.  Odell  presents  the  result  of  a  compre- 
hensive inquiry  relating  to  the  intelligence,  educational  plans,  and 
vocational  intentions  of  high-school  seniors  in  Illinois.  This  informa- 
tion, supplemented  by  the  results  of  similar  investigations  in  other 
states,  he  has  used  in  studying  certain  questions  relating  to  the  con- 
servation of  human  talent.  '  The  importance  of  the  questions 
considered  should  make  this  bulletin  one  of  interest  not  only  to 
those  connected  with  high  schools  but  also  to  those  who  deal  with 
college  students. 

As  will  be  evident  to  the  reader,  the  assemblage  of  information 
relative  to  seniors  in  Illinois  high  schools  was  made  possible  only 
through  the  cooperation  of  a  large  number  of  high-school  principals 
and  teachers.  To  all  who  have  contributed  to  this  investigation  the 
Bureau  of  Educational  Research  gratefully  acknowledges  its 
indebtedness. 

Walter  S.  Monroe,  Director 

Bureau  of  Educational  Research. 
January  15,  1925. 


I 


CONSERVATION  OF  INTELLIGENCE  IN 
ILLINOIS  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  CONSERVATION  OF  HUMAN  INTELLIGENCE 

Importance  of  the  problems  of  conserving  human  intelligence. 

Although  the  problem  of  conserving  human  intelligence  has  attained 
prominence  only  within  the  last  few  years  and  although  even  now 
its  significance  is  realized  by  few  persons  except  psychologists  and 
educators,  it  must  be  accorded  an  important  place  among  the 
problems  of  today.  Many  years  probably  will  elapse  before  it 
receives  as  much  attention  from  the  general  public  as  does  the 
conservation  of  material  resources  at  present.  Indeed  it  may  never 
receive  as  much,  since  the  average  individual  is  more  concerned  with 
what  affects  his  economic  than  with  what  affects  his  intellectual 
welfare  and  since  the  advantages  of  conserving  material  resources 
are  much  more  apparent  than  those  of  conserving  non-material 
resources.  The  assertion  has  been  made,  however,  that  the  actual 
economic  loss  due  to  our  failure  to  develop  and  utilize  the  mental 
resources  of  our  citizens  to  the  best  advantage  is  greater  than  that 
resulting  from  all  the  waste  of  our  material  resources. 

Ways  in  which  human  intelligence  is  wasted.  Waste  of  human 
Intelligence  occurs  when  an  Individual  does  not  receive  the  educa- 
tional training  best  suited  to  him,  or  when  he  does  not  enter  the 
occupation  In  which  he  can  render  the  greatest  service  to  society. 
The  first  of  these  sources  of  waste  Is  due  largely  to  imperfections  In 
our  educational  system;  the  second,  to  the  lack  of  adequate  voca- 
tional guidance. 

Waste  occurs  In  training  children  and  adults  when  they  lack 
sufficient  capacity  (intelligence)  to  profit  satisfactorily  from  the 
particular  course  of  training  pursued.  In  such  cases  the  effort  to 
train  Is  partially  or  even  wholly  wasted  because  It  does  not  succeed. 
There  is  also  waste  when  the  course  of  training  does  not  completely 
develop  one's  intellectual  capacity. 

The  occupational  service  which  one  may  render  to  society 
obviously  depends  upon  the  training  which  he  receives,  but  is  affected 

[7] 


also  by  the  relation  between  his  ability  as  developed  by  training  and 
the  demands  of  his  occupation.  If  a  person's  occupation  requires 
ability  in  excess  of  that  which  he  possesses,  he  will  fail  to  render  as 
great  service  as  in  an  occupation  requiring  a  lesser  degree  of  ability. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  fails  to  render  his  maximum  service  when  his 
occupation  requires  less  ability  than  he  possesses.  The  waste  in  the 
latter  case  is  likely  to  be  accentuated  by  dissatisfaction  and  loss  of 
interest  on  the  part  of  the  worker. 

The  service  which  individuals  render  to  society  also  depends  upon 
the  social  need  for  the  occupation  for  which  they  have  received 
special  training.  If  the  supply  of  trained  workers  for  a  particular 
occupation  is  in  excess  of  the  social  need  for  such  workers  this  group 
cannot  render  its  maximum  service.  Training  for  occupations  of 
little  social  value  also  does  not  yield  large  social  returns. 

Many  of  those  who  are  interested  In  the  conservation  of  human 
intelligence  have  asserted,  and  the  writer  is  in  accord  with  this  point 
of  view,  that  the  largest  source  of  waste  is  due  to  our  failure  to 
discover  and  to  train  appropriately  Individuals  possessing  superior 
Intelligence  and  to  guide  them  Into  suitable  occupations  after  they 
are  trained.  It  Is  pointed  out  that  we  are  accustomed  to  give  much 
attention  to  providing  training  and  guidance  for  children  of  Inferior 
Intelligence,  and  it  Is  asserted  that,  although  this  interest  in  such 
children  is  commendable,  our  efforts  to  train  them  will  yield  much 
smaller  social  dividends  than  would  similar  efforts  devoted  to  the 
education  of  children  possessing  superior  Intelligence. 

Cause  of  the  present  interest  in  the  conservation  of  human 
intelligence.  The  fact  that  the  problem  of  conserving  human  intelli- 
gence is  now  receiving  considerable  attention  Is  due  chiefly  to  three 
movements  which  have  themselves  become  prominent  since  the 
beginning  of  this  century.  The  first  of  these  Is  that  for  the  conserva- 
tion of  material  resources.  The  other  two,  which  are  closely  con- 
nected, and  indeed  might  almost  be  called  one,  are  the  application 
of  scientific  methods  in  education  and  the  Intelligence  test  movement. 

1.  The  conservation  of  material  resources.  Although  attempts 
to  arouse  public  sentiment  In  favor  of  conserving  our  material 
resources  were  made  prior  to  1900,  it  was  not  until  the  beginning 
of  the  twentieth  century  that  wide-spread  public  interest  was 
aroused  and  efTective  action  begun.  When  Roosevelt  became  presi- 
dent we  were  just  beginning  to  recognize  that  many  of  our  material 
resources  had  been  and  were  being  dissipated  at  an  alarming  rate 

[8] 


and  that  almost  no  attempt  to  replace  them  was  being  made.  Many 
forms  of  animal  life,  of  which  the  wild  pigeon  and  the  bison  are  the 
most  outstanding  exam.ples,  had  been  entirely  or  almost  exterm- 
inated. Our  forests,  which  once  seemed  inexhaustable,  were  being 
leveled  at  an  ever-increasing  rate  and  their  entire  destruction 
appeared  to  be  a  matter  of  comparatively  few  years.  The  supply  of 
natural  gas,  once  so  abundant  that  it  cost  less  to  allow  street  lights 
to  burn  all  day  than  to  extinguish  and  relight  them,  had  become  ex- 
hausted in  many  localities.  It  was  predicted  that  at  the  growing  rate 
of  consumption  our  supply  of  oil  soon  would  be  consumed. 

These  examples  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  that  might  be  cited  to 
illustrate  the  thoughtless  consumption  and  waste  that  prevailed  in 
this  country.  Largely  through  the  eiforts  of  President  Roosevelt  and 
others  associated  with  him,  a  beginning  was  made  in  enacting  laws 
which  provided  for  the  conservation  and  renewal  of  our  resources. 
The  movement  grew,  when  once  fairly  started,  until  now  many 
such  laws  are  upon  our  statute  books  and  public  sentiment  in  their 
support  has  been  fairly  well  aroused.  Since  this  movement  has 
become  established,  it  is  natural  that  the  principle  underlying  it 
should  be  applied  also  to  the  question  of  conserving  our  non- 
material  resources.  The  chief  non-material  resource  which  we 
possess  is  the  intelligence  of  our  people. 

2.  The  application  of  scientific  methods  in  education.  With 
negligible  exceptions  educational  thought  and  practice  In  the  past 
have  been  controlled  by  tradition  and  opinion  rather  than  by  fact. 
Within  the  last  decade  or  two,  scientific  methods  more  or  less  similar 
to  those  already  used  In  the  physical  sciences  have  been  introduced 
in  the  study  of  problems  in  education  and  the  other  social  sciences. 
The  application  of  these  methods,  Including  statistical  procedures, 
has  rendered  it  possible  for  us  to  study  more  critically  and  clearly 
questions  relating  to  the  conservation  of  human  intelligence.  Investi- 
gations can  be  made,  data  compiled,  and  experiments  carried  out 
with  some  assurance  that  the  results  will  be  significant. 

3.  The  intelligence  test  movement.  Although  the  intelligence 
test  movement  is  a  part  of  the  general  application  of  scientific 
methods  in  education,  it  is  such  a  major  part  and  its  contribution  to 
arousing  Interest  in  the  problem  of  conserving  human  intelligence 
has  been  so  great  that  it  deserves  special  mention.  The  development 
of  Individual  intelligence  tests  within  the  last  seven  or  eight  years 
has  been  phenomenal.    Perhaps  the  most  outstanding  fact  revealed 

[9] 


by  the  use  of  tests  has  been  the  wide  range  of  individual  abilities  in 
almost  any  group  of  people.  Even  though  it  was  recognized  that  all 
individuals  were  not  cast  in  the  same  mental  mold,  few  persons 
suspected  that  the  differences  were  of  such  great  extent  as  has  been 
found  to  be  the  case.  Therefore,  we  realize  as  never  before  that  all 
individuals  will  not  profit  equally  by  the  same  training  nor  succeed 
equally  well  In  a  particular  occupation.  A  second  reason  why  the 
intelligence  test  movement  has  contributed  to  the  interest  in  the 
conservation  of  human  intelligence  is  that  the  development  of  such 
tests  offers  instruments  of  great  value  in  the  study  of  the  problem. 
Naturally,  more  attention  is  given  to  studying  a  problem  when 
suitable  aids  are  at  hand. 

Purpose  of  this  monograph.  The  primary  purpose  of  this  mon- 
ograph is  to  discuss  the  general  problem  of  conserving  human  intel- 
ligence as  applied  to  high-school  seniors.  Stated  more  narrowly, 
it  is  to  present  certain  facts  relative  to  the  educational  and  voca- 
tional plans  of  high-school  seniors  and  to  indicate  the  probable 
degree  of  waste  of  their  mental  ability,  due  to:  (1)  plans  for  educa- 
tional training  and  vocational  entrance  which  are  not  appropriate  to 
the  degrees  of  intelligence  possessed  by  the  students;  and  (2)  the 
lack  of  agreement  between  the  probable  need  for  workers  trained 
along  various  lines  and  the  vocational  intentions  of  the  seniors. 

The  fulfillment  of  this  primary  purpose  leads  naturally  to  the 
second  problem  of  how  to  reduce  the  present  waste  of  the  intelligence 
of  high-school  seniors  to  a  minimum.  The  facts  that  will  be  pre- 
sented in  the  following  pages  suggest  that  certain  procedures  are 
needed,  but  the  writer  will  content  himself  with  stating  these  needs 
in  very  general  terms,  and  will  not  enter  upon  a  detailed  discussion 
of  the  means  and  methods  to  be  employed  in  educational  and  voca- 
tional guidance. 

Limitations  of  this  study.  (1)  The  amount  of  waste  cannot  be 
determined  accurately.  This  study  was  not  undertaken,  as  might  be 
implied  by  the  secondary  purpose  stated  above,  with  the  belief  that 
all  waste  can  be  eliminated.  In  the  first  place,  we  cannot  predict 
with  a  high  degree  of  accuracy  how  much  society  will  profit  from 
giving  an  individual  a  particular  kind  of  training,  or  from  having 
him  enter  a  certain  occupation.  Furthermore,  the  demands  for 
workers  in  different  occupations  vary  with  changes  in  social  and 
economic  conditions.  Therefore,  we  cannot  know  in  advance  what 
the  future  needs   for  workers   in   the  different  occupations  will   be. 

[10] 


Although  we  can  predict  neither  the  contribution  an  individual  will 
make  to  society,  nor  what  society's  needs  for  workers  will  be,  and, 
hence,  cannot  eliminate  all  waste  of  human  intelligence,  nevertheless 
we  can  hope  to  reduce  the  degree  of  waste  probably  by  a  great 
amount.  Therefore,  the  second  purpose  mentioned  above  is 
justifiable. 

(2)  Success  in  college  and  in  a  vocation  cannot  be  predicted 
reliably.  Perhaps  the  most  serious  limitation  upon  this  study  is  that 
the  prognostic  value  of  intelligence  test  scores  is  at  best  only  fairly 
high.  Even  if  the  errors  due  to  the  unreliability  of  tests  are  neglected 
and  the  scores  obtained  are  taken  as  accurate  and  reliable  measures 
of  mental  ability,  it  cannot  be  assumed  that  they  enable  one  to 
predict  success,  in  college  or  vocation,  with  a  high  degree  of  accuracy. 
As  to  the  former,  we  know  that  many  other  factors  besides  mental 
ability  have  a  part  in  deterhiining  an  individual's  success  in  higher 
education.  On  the  other  hand,  the  correlation  between  college  success 
as  measured  by  the  marks  given  and  the  results  of  intelligence  tests 
appears  to  be  higher  than  that  between  such  success  and  any  other 
single  item  of  information  that  is  available.^ 

It  is  probable  that  the  correlation  between  vocational  success  and 
intelligence  is  lower  than  that  between  college  success  and  intelli- 
gence. Indeed,  it  has  been  asserted  by  such  an  expert  in  the  field 
as  Charters  that,  "If  we  .  .  .  seek  to  predict  success  in  business 
from  intelligence  scores,  the  case  is  strikingly  hopeless  .  .  .  The 
correlation  between  intelligence  scores  and  success  in  business  .  .  . 
hovers  around  zero."-  This  extreme  statement  of  Charters  does  not 
seem,  in  the  writer's  opinion,  justified.  In  the  first  place,  other  stu- 
dents in  this  field  have  concluded  that  there  is  some  positive  correla- 
tion between  Intelligence  and  vocational  success.  Furthermore,  many 
employers  and  others  In  business  manifest  their  belief  In  the  practical 
value  of  intelligence  tests  for  selecting  those  whom  they  wish  to 
employ  or  promote.  It  Is,  of  course,  true  that  the  problem  of  selecting 


^In  view  of  the  evidence  from  various  studies  which  have  been  reported  in  educa- 
tional literature  the  writer  believes  that  the  more  or  less  dogmatic  statement  made 
above  is  justified.  Space  does  not  permit  of  offering  arguments  to  support  it.  Any- 
one who  is  interested  can  find  numerous  discussions  of  the  matter.  A  bibliography- 
listing  a  number  of  these  may  be  found  in  Wood,  Ben  D.  "Measurement  in  Higher 
Education."    World  Book  Company,  Yonkers:     1923.    p.  331-34. 

^Charters,  W.  W.  "Personality  and  Intelligence."  Columbus,  Ohio:  Proceed- 
ings Fourth  Annual  Session  of  the  Ohio  State  Educational  Conference.  The  Ohio 
State  University  Bulletin,  August,  1924.    29:24-31. 

[11] 


an  employe  for  a  specific  job  differs  from  that  of  giving  general 
vocational  guidance,  but  there  are  many  common  elements.  Also, 
although  many  other  qualities,  such  as  industry,  perseverance,  tact, 
self-confidence,  etc.,  play  a  large  part  in  vocational  success,  there  is 
no  reason  to  believe  that  these  vary  inversely  with  intelligence  and, 
therefore,  nullify  Its  presence.  Even  Charters  would  certainly  not 
assert  that  a  person  with  an  I.  Q.  of  50  or  60  could  become  a  success- 
ful surgeon,  engineer,  or  business  executive.  Neither  does  the  fact, 
if  it  be  a  fact,  that  the  correlation  between  intelligence  and  vocational 
success  is  so  low  at  present  prove  that  this  condition  is  inherent  in 
the  nature  of  intelligence  and  the  requirements  for  occupational 
success.  It  may  be  that  the  low  correlation  is  due  in  part  to  the 
lack  of  proper  educational  and  vocational  guidance  in  the  past. 


[12] 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  DATA  USED  IN  THIS  STUDY 

Source  of  date.  The  data  which  form  the  basis  for  the  study  of 
the  problems  mentioned  in  Chapter  I  were  derived  from  several 
sources.  Those  of  which  most  use  will  be  made  were  obtained  in  a 
study  of  the  high-school  seniors  of  Illinois  conducted  by  the  Bureau 
of  Educational  Research.  Since  no  account  of  this  investigation  has 
appeared  in  print,  a  fairly  detailed  description  of  it  will  be  given  in 
the  first  portion  of  this  chapter.  Data  from  three  other  similar 
studies  also  will  be  used.  These  studies,  which  were  carried  on  in  the 
states  of  Indiana,  North  Carolina  and  Massachusetts,  have  been 
reported  in  print^  elsewhere,  and  therefore  need  only  brief  descrip- 
tions here.  Another  source  from  which  a  few  data  were  obtained  and 
which  also  is  described  elsewhere  was  the  report  of  the  work  done  in 
our  army  during  and  following  the  World  War. 

The  Illinois  study.  This  study  was  conducted  in  the  autumn  of 
1923,  and  all  the  four-year  public  high  schools  in  the  state  of  Illinois 
were  invited  to  participate.  The  number,  size,  and  distributions  of 
the  schools  cooperating  are  shown  in  Table  I.  In  this  table  the 
entries  in  the  first  column  show  the  actual  numbers  of  schools  from 
which  data  were  secured,  whereas  those  in  the  second  show  the  per- 
cents  that  these  schools  were  of  all  four-year  high  schools.^  An 
examination  of  this  table  shows  that  the  number  of  schools  included 
as  well  as  their  distribution  was  such  that  the  results  may  be  con- 
sidered representative  of  the  state  of  Illinois.  In  only  one  division 
were  less  than  one-third  of  the  high  schools  included,  whereas  in 
several  about  two-thirds  participated.  The  total  number  of  schools 
contributing  data  was  368,  or  about  four-sevenths  of  all  the  four-year 


^See  p.  15-16  for  references. 

^Immediately  after  the  point  scores  had  been  tabulated,  a  "Preliminary  Report 
of  Study  of  High-School  Seniors"  in  mimeographed  form  was  prepared  and  distrib- 
uted to  the  schools  which  participated.  This  report  contained  the  distributions  of 
point  scores  by  sizes  of  schools  and  sections  of  the  state.  After  this  had  been  issued 
it  was  found  that  the  scores  of  several  schools  had  been  inadvertently  omitted  and 
also  that  it  contained  a  few  errors.  Therefore  small  discrepancies  exist  between 
some  of  the  data  given  here  and  elsewhere  in  this  bulletin  and  those  in  the  prelim- 
inary report. 

[13] 


high  schools  in  the  state,  and  the  number  of  seniors  about  12,300^ 
or  almost  exactly  one-half  of  all  in  Illinois. 

All  of  the  schools  which  signified  their  willingness  to  participate 
were  sent  a  sufficient  number  of  copies  of  the  Otis  Self-Administering 
Test  of  Mental  Ability,  Higher  Examination,  Form  A,  and  of  the 
"Information  Blank  for  High-School  Seniors,"*  prepared  for  use  in 
this  investigation,  for  all  seniors.  This  blank  called  for  the  following 
items  of  information: 

Name 

Sex 

Date  of  Birth _ 

Age  on  September  1.  1923 

Name  of  school 

Town  or  city 

Intentions  concerning  further  education 

Intention  of  continuing  or  not 

Institution 

Course 

Major  subject 

Vocational  choice _ 

Father's  occupation 

Information  as  to  previous  intelligence  tests  taken 

Units  of  high  school  credit 

High-school  subjects  liked  most 

High-school  subjects  liked  least 

Number  of  failures  in  high   school 

Average  school  mark  in  high  school" 

The  tests  were  administered  by  the  principals  or  by  teachers 
whom  they  designated.  Most  of  the  testing  was  done  on  October  4; 
a  little,  a  day  or  two  before  this  date,  some  a  few  days  afterwards,'^ 
In  no  case  was  the  delay  great  enough  that  the  mental  growth  of  the 
seniors  during  the  elapsed  time  would  be  likely  to  result  in  their 
making  even  one  point  more  on  the  test.  All  scoring  was  done  in  the 
offices  of  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Research.'^   After  the  papers  had 


^As  the  data  asked  for  were  not  completely  given  by  all  seniors,  the  number  of 
cases  in  each  tabulation  is  less  than  the  figure  given  above. 

^A  copy  of  this  blank  and  the  instructions  for  filling  it  out  may  be  found  in 
Appendix  A. 

^Only  a  minority  of  the  schools  furnished  the  average  school  marks  of  their 
seniors.    They  were  supplied  for  approximately  2700  individuals. 

The  test  papers  from  a  few  schools  were  received  so  late  that  they  were  not 
included  in  the  tabulations  made. 

'In  a  few  cases  teachers  or  principals  had  scored  the  papers  before  they  were 
returned  to  the  Bureau.  In  all  such  instances  the  scores  already  computed  were 
checked  by  rescorlng. 

[14] 


TABLE  I.— NUMBERS,  SIZES  AND  DISTRIBUTION  OF  HIGH  SCHOOLS 
THAT  PARTICIPATED  IN  THE  ILLINOIS  INVESTIGATION" 


Enrollment 

Section  of  State'' 

Class 

Northern 

Central 

Southern 

Total 

Num- 

Per- 

Num- 

Per- 

Num- 

Per- 

Num- 

Per- 

ber 

cent 

ber 

cent 

ber 

cent 

ber 

cent 

I 

1000  or  more 

10"^ 

33" 

2 

50 

0 

(-Y 

12 

35 

II 

500  —  999 

6 

29 

4 

44 

7 

58 

17 

40 

III 

300  —  499 

8 

53 

4 

44 

11 

79 

23 

61 

IV 

100  —  299 

51 

65 

54 

62 

17 

40 

122 

59 

V 

1  —  99 

88 

61 

83 

63 

23 

43 

194 

59 

Total 

163 

56 

147 

62 

58 

48 

368 

57 

='For  the  explanation  of  certain  discrepancies  between  the  figures  in  this  table  and  those  in  the 
preliminary  report  see  Note   2,  on  page   13. 

•"The  three  sections  of  the  state  are  those  into  which  the  state  is  divided  for  the  purpose  of 
electing  members  of  the  Illinois  State  Teachers  Examining  Board.  Each  section  includes  the  same 
number  of  counties,    34. 

<=Half  of  these  are   in  the  city  of  Chicago. 

■•The  figures    In  this  colum.n  show  the  percents   of  all    four-year   high   schools    included. 

^  There  were  no  high  schools  of    1,000  or   more   pupils   in   the  southern  part   of   the   state. 


been  scored,  intelligence  quotients  were  computed  according  to  the 
method  prescribed  by  Otis  in  his  Manual  of  Directions. 

The  Indiana  study.  The  Indiana  study*  of  high-school 
seniors,  which  was  conducted  by  Book  and  others  during  the  school 
year  of  1918-19,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  investigation  of  this 
general  type  carried  on  in  our  country.  It  included  about  6,000  high- 
school  seniors  of  Indiana  and  was,  therefore,  indicative  of  statewide 
conditions.  As  in  the  Illinois  study,  each  senior  took  a  mental  test 
and  filled  out  a  questionnaire  which  called  for  a  dozen  or  more  items 
of  information.  A  number  of  these  items  were  almost  or  exactly  the 
same  as  in  the  Illinois  investigation  and  the  others  were  of  the  same 
general  character. 


*Book,  W.  F.  The  Intelligence  of  High  School  Seniors.  New  York:  Macmillan 
Company,  1922.    371  p. 

Book,  W.  F.  A  preliminary  report  on  the  state-wide  mental  survey  of  high 
school  seniors.  Indiana  University  Extension  Division  Bulletin,  Vol.  6,  No.  1,  p. 
31-67.    (Contains  a  brief  summary  of  the  study.) 


[1-^] 


The  North  Carolina  study.  This  study"  was  in  many  ways 
similar  to  those  made  in  IlHnois  and  Indiana.  The  investigation  was 
carried  on  about  two  years  ago,  and  somewhat  less  than  1,000 
seniors  were  included.  Although  this  number  seems  rather  small,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  population  of  North  Carolina  is  some- 
what less  than  that  of  Indiana  and  considerably  less  than  that  of 
Illinois,  and  also  that  the  proportion  of  children  who  become  high- 
school  seniors  is  less.  The  sampling,  therefore,  is  more  adequate 
than  may  appear  at  first  thought.  In  the  North  Carolina  investiga- 
tion also,  a  mental  test  was  administered  to  the  seniors  and  a  num- 
ber of  items  of  information,  very  similar  to  those  used  in  the  Illinois 
study,  were  collected. 

The  Massachusetts  study.  The  Massachusetts  study^°  was 
carried  on  about  the  same  time  as  the  one  in  North  Carolina,  and 
included  more  than  3,000  seniors.  Comparing  this  number  with  the 
population  of  the  state  of  Alassachusetts,  it  is  evident  that  a  less 
adequate  sampling  was  obtained  than  in  the  case  of  Illinois  and 
Indiana.  The  number,  however,  is  large  enough  to  warrant  con- 
fidence in  the  data.  An  intelligence  test  was  given  to  the  seniors  and 
answers  to  sixteen  questions  were  asked  for.  In  general  these  ques- 
tions were  along  the  same  lines  as  those  in  the  investigations 
previously  described. 

United  States  army  data.  In  the  final  report  of  the  work  done 
in  our  army  during  and  following  the  World  War,  there  is  presented 
a  tabulation  of  the  intelligence  test  scores  of  large  numbers  of  men 
according  to  the  occupations  in  which  they  stated  they  had  been 
employed. ^^  It  is  probable  that  this  work  gave  the  greatest  impetus, 
which  has  been  received  from  any  source,  to  studies  similar  to 
those  reported  In  this  bulletin.  Although  we  are  not  justified  in 
assuming  that  the  results  of  the  army  investigation  reveal  the 
optimum  degrees  of  intelligence  for  the  occupations  represented,  we 


Trabue,  M.  R.  Abilities  of  Xorth  Carolina  high-school  pupils.  The  High  School 
Journal,  Vol.  7,  p.  3-8.  January.  192+. 

Mann,  G.  VV.  Selective  influence  of  desire  to  attend  college.  The  High  School 
Journal,  Vol.  7,  p.  8-9.    January,  1924. 

Holland,  A.  C.  Some  relations  between  ability  and  vocation.  The  High  School 
Journal,  Vol.  7,  p.  10-14.   January,  1924. 

^"Colvin,  S.  S.,  and  McPhail,  A.  H.  Intelligence  of  Seniors  in  the  High  Schools 
of  Massachusetts.    Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin  1924,  No.  9,  39  p. 

"Yerkes,  R.  M.,  Editor.  Intelligence  Ratings  of  Occupational  Groups.  Chapter 
5:819-37.   Memoirs  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences.    \'o!.  15.  Part  III. 

[16] 


can  make  some  use  of  them.  They  indicate,  although  they  do  not 
prove,  that  in  many  Hnes  of  work  there  are  to  be  found  only  a  few 
persons  who  possess  less  than  a  certain  degree  of  intelligence  and 
only  a  few  who  possess  more  than  a  certain  degree.  This  is  evidence 
that  there  are  approximate  upper  and  lower  limits  in  some  vocations. 
It  is  true  that  these  limits  have  been  determined  by  the  interaction 
of  many  social  forces,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  chief  factor  in  their 
determination  is  the  level  of  intelligence  necessary  to  a  fair  degree 
of  success  in  various  occupations. 

The  accuracy  and  reliability  of  the  data.  (1).  The  intelligence 
test  results.  Many  of  the  data,  and  especially  the  measures  of  intelli- 
gence, gathered  in  all  the  investigations  referred  to  are  not  highly 
accurate  and  reliable.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  of  the  army 
results,  all  the  measures  of  intelligence  were  secured  through  the 
administration  of  group  tests.  There  is  always  the  possibility,  and 
indeed  the  probability,  that  a  small  percent  of  the  scores  so  obtained 
are  very-  much  in  error  and  that  many  of  them  are  inaccurate  by 
small  amounts.  One  is  not  justified,  therefore,  in  assuming  that  the 
score  resulting  from  a  single  application  of  a  group  intelligence  test 
is  an  accurate  or  reliable  measure  of  the  mental  ability  of  the 
individual  making  it.  On  the  other  hand,  the  variable  errors  present 
in  the  scores  tend  to  be  equally  distributed  in  both  directions. 
That  is,  if  any  considerable  number  of  individuals  are  tested,  it  is 
probable  that  there  will  be  just  about  as  many  scores  that  are  too 
large  by  any  given  amount  as  there  are  scores  that  are  too  small  by 
the  same  amount.  Since  the  tests  were  given  in  many  schools  under 
different  conditions  and  by  different  examiners,  it  is  very  improbable 
that  the  same  constant  errors  would  be  present  in  all,  or  even  a  large 
proportion  of,  the  scores.  In  other  words,  errors  that  are  constant 
for  any  one  school  or  examiner  become  variable  when  all  are  con- 
sidered in  one  group. ^-  Therefore,  except  at  their  extremes, ^^  the  total 


"This  not  true  of  the  I.  Q.'s  derived  from  the  point  scores  made  on  the  test 
used  in  the  Illinois  study.  Because  of  the  method  of  computing  them  suggested  by 
Otis,  a  constant  error  is  involved.  This  will  be  explained  in  more  detail  later  when 
the  I.  Q.'s  are  presented  and  discussed. 

"This  exception  is  made  because  one  effect  of  variable  errors  is  to  cause  the 
extremes  of  a  distribution  of  obtained  scores  to  be  more  extreme  than  those  of  the 
true  scores  would  be.  That  is,  at  the  upper  end  of  the  obtained  distribution  there 
are  likely  to  be  some  scores  larger  than  any  true  score,  and  at  the  lower  end  some 
that  are  smaller. 

[17] 


distributions  of  scores  obtained  are  in  all  probability  indicative  of 
the  distributions  of  intelligence  of  the  whole  groups  of  seniors  who 
made  them  and  the  averages  derived  from  the  distributions  are 
rather  highly  reliable.^'* 

In  the  presentation  and  interpretation  of  the  data  from  the 
Intelligence  tests  the  fact  that  errors  are  present  will  be  taken  into 
account.  Since  conclusions  based  upon  a  very  small  number  of  cases 
would  not  be  justified,  the  writer  has  not  included  inferences  sug- 
gested by  the  smaller  groups  of  data. 

2.  The  school  marks.  As  has  been  stated  previously,  the  average 
school  marks  of  about  2,700  of  the  seniors  included  in  the  Illinois 
study  were  secured.  These  marks  undoubtedly  contained  at  least 
as  large  and  as  frequent  errors  as  do  the  intelligence  test  scores.  The 
fact  that  teachers  are  more  or  less  subjective  in  their  marking  can- 
not be  denied.  As  before,  however,  these  errors  w^ll  tend  to  balance 
one  another.  Furthermore,  it  cannot  be  assumed  that  perfectly 
objective  school  marks,  if  they  could  be  secured,  would  be  satis- 
factory measures  of  mental  ability.  Although  intelligence  is  probably 
most  potent  in  determining  the  school  mark  of  any  individual,  many 
other  factors,  such  as  industry,  interest,  health,  family  traditions, 
etc.,  enter  into  the  situation.  For  this  and  other  reasons,  the  marks 
obtained  in  the  Illinois  study  will  be  presented  very  briefly  and  only 
slight  reference  made  to  them. 

3.  The  intentions  of  the  seniors.  Another  source  of  more  or  less 
unreliability  in  the  conclusions  is  that  the  intentions  of  the  seniors 
as  to  higher  education  and  future  occupations  cannot  be  depended 
upon  as  representing  what  they  will  actually  do.  In  all  probability 
most  of  the  seniors  were  sincere  in  expressing  their  intentions, 
although  there  is  no  doubt  that  some  of  those  who  were  undecided 
gave  the  answer  that  they  thought  would  sound  best.  A  more 
important  source  of  error  is  that  many  of  them  will  change  their 
minds.  This  likely  will  occur  more  often  with  reference  to  the  occu- 
pations to  be  entered  than  to  the  higher  education  to  be  secured.  It 
is  not  probable  that  the  changes  will  balance  or  offset  each  other. 
Undoubtedly  many  more  Individuals  will  change  from  their  present 


"For  the  benefit  of  those  who  have  not  made  a  study  of  statistics  it  is,  perhaps, 
well  to  mention  that  the  reliability  of  an  average  increases  with  the  square  root  of 
the  number  of  cases  included.  For  example,  an  average  based  upon  100  cases  is  10 
times  as  reliable  as  a  single  measure,  one  based  upon  900  is  30  times  as  reliable  as 
a  single  measure  or  3  times  as  reliable  as  one  based  upon  100,  and  so  on. 

[18] 


plans  to  less  ambitious  ones  than  will  do  the  opposite.  That  is  to  say, 
the  general  tendency  will  be  to  secure  less  college  education  than 
intended  originally  and  to  enter  occupations  that  do  not  rank  as  high 
in  social  esteem  and  opportunities  for  material  returns  as  those  first 
selected.  It  is,  moreover,  very  difficult  to  estimate  how  great  these 
changes  will  be.  The  writer  does  not  believe  that  they  will  be  great 
enough  to  invalidate  the  use  of  data  as  to  college  and  vocational 
intentions.  However,  the  conclusions  reached  should  not  be  based 
upon  small  numbers  of  cases  or  small  differences,  nor  should  they  be 
accepted  without  a  reasonable  degree  of  caution. 


[19] 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  INTENTIONS  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SENIORS 
RELATIVE  TO  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

The  problem  of  this  chapter.  The  principal  question  to  be 
answered  in  this  chapter  is,  "How  great  is  the  waste  of  human 
intelligence  which  results:  (1)  because  some  high-school  seniors  of 
superior  intelligence  plan  to  secure  either  no  additional  training  or 
training  that  is  comparatively  short  and  easy;  and  (2)  because  some 
seniors  of  inferior  intelligence  plan  to  pursue  courses  of  training 
which  are  so  long  and  difficult  that  it  is  unlikely  they  will  be  able  to 
complete  them  successfully. 

No  attempt  will  be  made  to  answer  this  question  in  precise 
quantitative  terms  but  pertinent  evidence  will  be  presented  and  the 
implications  of  the  data  pointed  out.  Incidentally  there  will  be  some 
comment  upon  the  degree  of  agreement  between  the  distribution  of 
high-school  seniors  according  to  their  vocational  intentions,  as 
indicated  by  their  educational  plans,  and  the  social  demand  for  such 
workers.  This  latter  question  will  be  treated  more  fully  in 
Chapter  IV. 

Plan  of  assembling  data  obtained  in  the  Illinois  study.  The 
information  relative  to  the  college  intentions^  of  Illinois  high-school 
seniors  was  tabulated  or  classified  in  several  ways.  The  primary 
classification  was  on  the  basis  of  sex.  Another  basis  referred  to  the 
length  of  training  provided  by  higher  institutions,  those  offering  less 
than  four  years  being  placed  in  one  group  and  those  offering  a  course 
of  four  years  or  more  in  another.  The  third  was  according  to  the 
type  of  training  which  the  seniors  expected  to  secure.  The  following 
classes  were  used:  agriculture,  commerce,  education,  English,  law, 
liberal  arts,  library,  medicine,  military  and  physical  training,  music, 
and  miscellaneous.  Some  students  indicated  that  they  were  undecided 
in  regard  to  their  educational  plans  and  others  stated  that  they  did 
not  expect  to  attend  college,  so  two  additional  classes  were  needed 
for  these  individuals.  Thus  in  respect  to  college  intentions  the  seniors 
were  classified  in  thirteen  groups. 


*The  higher  institutions  named  by  the  seniors  numbered  about  250.    The  list  is 
not  given  because  of  its  length. 

[20] 


With  reference  to  intelligence  the  seniors  were  grouped  on  the 
basis  of  their  intelligence  quotients  into  the  following  eight  classes; 
60-69,  70-79,  80-89,  90-99,  100-109,  110-119,  120-129,  and  130-139. 

Relationship  between  college  intentions  and  intelligence  of 
Illinois  high-school  seniors.  In  Table  II  will  be  found  a  summary 
of  the  facts  relative  to  the  college  intentions  and  to  the  intelligence 
of  the  senior  boys  in  the  Illinois  high  schools  from  which  information 
was  secured.  Table  III  presents  a  similar  summary  for  the  senior 
girls.  To  illustrate  how  these  tables  are  to  be  read  the  first  line  of 
Table  II  may  be  used.  It  shows  that  260  boys  indicated  that  they 
expected  to  secure  college  training  in  the  field  of  agriculture  at 
institutions  offering  at  least  four  years  of  work  and  that  none  were 
planning  to  take  agricultural  training  in  schools  offering  less  than 
four  years  of  work.  Three  of  these  boys  had  intelligence  quotients 
between  70  and  79,  eighteen  between  80  and  89  and  so  on.  At  the 
upper  end  of  this  group  was  one  boy  who  had  an  intelligence  quotient 
between  130  and  139.  The  median  intelligence  quotient  of  this 
group  was  104. 

With  regard  to  the  question  being  considered  in  this  chapter,- 
the  significant  facts  in  these  tables  are:  (1)  the  number  of  seniors 
having  low  intelligence  quotients  who  plan  to  continue  their  educa- 
tion, particularly  the  number  who  expect  to  undertake  four-year 
courses;  (2)  the  number  of  seniors  having  high  intelligence  quo- 
tients who  do  not  expect  to  continue  their  training  or  who  are  un- 
decided; and,  (3)  the  number  of  seniors  having  high  intelligence 
quotients  who  expect  to  continue  their  training,  but  who  are  plan- 
ning to  attend  institutions  which  oflFer  less  than  four  years  of  work. 

For  the  purpose  of  this  discussion  we  may  consider  intelligence 
quotients  of  110  and  above  as  being  high  and  those  below  90  as 
being  low.  On  the  basis  of  the  studies  of  the  relationship  between 
college  and  intelligence,  we  are  justified  in  assuming  that  practically 
all  individuals  with  I.Q.'s  of  110  and  above  are  able  to  do  college 
work  successfully,  whereas  almost  none  with  I.  Q.'s  below  90  can  do 
so.  Indeed  there  are  not  very  many  individuals  with  I.  Q.'s  below 
100  who  are  able  to  do  college  work  of  satisfactory  quality. 

The  number  of  Illinois  seniors  of  high  intelligence  undecided 
about  continuing  their  education  or  not  expecting  to  do  so  amounted 
to  approximately  7  percent  of  the  total  number  (boys,  7.6  percent; 

'See  p.  20. 

[21] 


TABLE  II.— DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  COLLEGE  INTENTIONS  OF  SENIOR 

BOYS  IN  ILLINOIS  HIGH  SCHOOLS  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  THEIR 

INTELLIGENCE  QUOTIENTS 


Intelligence  Quotient 

College 

No.  yrs. 

Intentions 

60- 

70- 

so- 

90- 

100- 

110- 

120- 

130- 

Total 

Median 

Agric 

4  yrs. 
less 

3 

ls 

74 

99 

46 

19 

1 

260 

104 

Comm. .  . . 

4  vrs. 

2 

3 

15 

105 

195 

136 

36 

1 

493 

106 

less 

1 

8 

42 

49 

24 

9 

133 

103 

Educ 

4  vrs. 

7 

28 

58 

25 

7 

125 

105 

less 

2 

3 

•  3 

2 

1 

11 

112 

Engin  .... 

4  vrs. 

2 

8 

59 

220 

424 

309 

123 

13 

1158 

107 

less 

4 

21 

20 

16 

1 

1 

63 

103 

Law 

4  yrs. 

1 

4 

10 

38 

67 

55 

30 

5 

210 

108 

less 

13 

5 

2 

20 

108 

Lib.  A.... 

4  yrs. 

17 

99 

168 

128 

62 

5 

479 

107 

less 

1 

1 

2 

1 

5 

113 

Libr 

4  yrs. 
less 

Med 

4  yrs. 

2 

22 

95 

112 

72 

20 

2 

325 

104 

less 

J 

2 

3 

2 

1 

11 

112 

Mil.P.T.. 

4  yrs. 
less 

6 

26 

31 
1 

9 

6 

1 

1 

79 

2 

102 
115 

Music .... 

4  vrs. 

0 

7 

12 

S 

2 

31 

105 

less 

1 

1 

1 

3 

95 

Misc 

4  yrs. 

3 

11 

9 

3 

26 

109 

less 

2 

11 

19 

4 

5 

41 

104 

Total 

4  vrs. 

5 

20 

156 

695 

1177 

797 

308 

28 

3186 

106 

less 

1 

15 

81 

108 

57 

24 

3 

289 

104 

Undec .... 

1 

9 

71 

306 

367 

210 

60 

1 

1025 

103 

No 

8 

35 

132 

174 

81 

23 

2 

455 

103 

Grand 

Total. .  . 

6 

38 

277 

1214 

1826 

1145 

415 

34 

4955 

105 

[22] 


TABLE  III.— DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  COLLEGE  INTENTIONS  OF  SENIOR 

GIRLS  IN  ILLINOIS  HIGH  SCHOOLS  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  THEIR 

INTELLIGENCE  QUOTIENTS 


Intelligence  Quotient 

College 

No.  yrs. 

Intentions 

60- 

70- 

80- 

90- 

100- 

110- 

120- 

130- 

Total 

Median 

Agric 

4  yrs. 
less 

1 

1 

125 

Comm. . . . 

4  vrs. 

3 

13 

22 

16 

4 

58 

106 

less 

1 

5 

88 

280 

262 

104 

19 

759 

100 

Educ 

4  vrs. 

2 

11 

67 

268 

345 

210 

54 

7 

964 

104 

less 

1 

6 

49 

192 

220 

109 

18 

595 

102 

Engin, 

4  yrs. 
less 

Law 

4  yrs. 
less 

2 

1 

3 
1 

2 

8 
1 

113 
115 

Lib.  A.... 

4  vrs. 

3 

2 

43 

217 

410 

291 

82 

8 

1056 

106 

less 

1 

17 

14 

11 

5 

48 

104 

Libr 

4  yrs. 
less 

2 

1 

3 
1 

3 

1 

7 
4 

92 
103 

Med 

4  vrs. 

12 

10 

11 

2 

1 

2,6 

106 

less 

2 

21 

62 

72 

24 

4 

185 

101 

Mil.  P.  T. . 

4  yrs. 

3 

7 

13 

5 

28 

103 

less 

1 

14 

29 

16 

2 

62 

105 

Music .... 

4  yrs. 

3 

16 

52 

88 

47 

8 

214 

104 

less 

1 

10 

23 

47 

12 

2 

95 

103 

Miscl. 

4  yrs. 

1 

1 

2 

12 

4 

1 

21 

105 

less 

3 

17 

22 

10 

4 

56 

104 

Total 

4  vrs. 

5 

19 

134 

576 

901 

587 

155 

16 

2393 

105 

less 

2 

14 

173 

606 

669 

287 

54 

1805 

102 

Undec  .... 

2 

18 

152 

436 

531 

202 

33 

1 

1375 

101 

No 

14 

81 

260 

263 

151 

24 

793 

102 

Grand 

Total. . . 

9 

65 

540 

1878 

2364 

1227 

266 

17 

6366 

103 

[23] 


girls,  6.4  percent).  Comparing  this  with  the  total  number  having 
Intelligence  quotients  of  110  and  above,  we  find  that  about  one- 
fourth  of  the  seniors  having  high  I.Q.'s  either  did  not  expect  to 
continue  their  education  or  had  made  no  definite  plans  to  do  so 
(boys,  23.6  percent;  girls,  26.6  percent).  Nearly  one-fourth  (boys, 
22.1  percent;  girls,  24.0  percent)  of  all  the  seniors  expecting  to  attend 
a  four-year  institution  had  I.  Q.'s  between  90  and  100.  If  these 
figures  are  compared  with  the  total  number  having  Intelligence  quo- 
tients below  90  and  from  90  to  100,  respectively,  we  find  that  almost 
three-fifths  (boys  61.4  percent;  girls  56.5  percent)  of  the  former 
group  and  slightly  more  than  three-fifths  (boys,  63.9  percent;  girls, 
62.9  percent)  of  the  latter  group  were  definitely  planning  to  obtain  a 
higher  education. 

Tables  II  and  III  also  show  that  there  are  a  considerable 
number  of  seniors,  particularly  of  girls,  of  high  intelligence  who 
were  planning  to  attend  Institutions  offering  less  than  four  years  of 
work.  This  is  true  of  6.9  percent  of  the  total  number  of  boys  and  of 
31.0  percent  of  the  girls. 

Distribution  of  Illinois  seniors  with  reference  to  higher  institu- 
tions. The  distribution  of  seniors  with  reference  to  the  types  of 
higher  Institutions  which  they  expected  to  attend  is  interesting,  but 
less  significant,  for  the  purpose  of  the  problem  being  considered. 
With  few  exceptions,  the  groups  of  those  expecting  to  pursue  four- 
year  courses  had  higher  median  I.  Q.'s  than  those  who  planned  to 
pursue  shorter  courses.  The  exceptions  were  probably  due  to  the 
unreliability  of  the  medians  of  small  groups.  Considering  all  the 
seniors  expecting  to  continue  their  educational  training,  those  who 
planned  to  pursue  four-year  courses  possessed  a  slightly  higher 
degree  of  intelligence  on  the  whole  than  those  who  were  planning 
shorter  courses.  It  Is  also  noticeable  that  there  was  a  slight  tendency 
for  the  seniors  having  high  I.  Q.'s  to  choose  professions  such  as 
engineering,  law,  and  medicine,  which  are  generally  thought  to 
require  a  high  degree  of  intellectual  ability  for  success.  The  lowest 
median  I.  Q.'s  of  groups  of  boys  numbering  more  than  fifty  were: 
103  for  those  in  commerce,  103  for  engineering,  and  102  for  military 
and  physical  training;  for  the  girls,  they  were:  education  102,  med- 
icine 101,  and  commerce  100.  With  the  single  exception  of  the  boys 
in  military  and  physical  training,  all  of  these  low  I.  Q.'s  were  for 
groups  of  seniors  planning  to  take  less  than  four  years  of  training. 
The  highest  median  I.  Q.'s  for  groups  of  boys  numbering  more  than 

[24] 


fifty  were:  108  for  law,  107  for  engineering,  and  107  for  liberal  arts; 
those  for  girls  were:  commerce  106,  liberal  arts  106,  and  military  and 
physical  training  105.  Except  in  the  case  of  the  one  mentioned  last, 
all  of  these  were  groups  expecting  to  take  four  years  or  more  of  fur- 
ther training. 

Limitations  of  the  Illinois  data.  As  has  already  been  pointed 
out  in  Chapter  II,  the  data  summarized  in  Tables  II  and  III  cannot 
be  considered  highly  accurate.  The  scores  made  on  the  Otis  Self- 
Administering  Test  of  Mental  Ability,  Higher  Examination,  Form  A, 
from  which  the  Illinois  I.  Q.'s  were  computed,  are  subject  to  variable 
errors.  Indeed,  these  errors  are  probably  somewhat  greater  than 
those  which  result  from  the  application  of  many  of  the  group  intelli- 
gence tests,  because  this  test  is  comparatively  short.  The  probability 
of  errors  in  the  I.  Q.'s  is  increased  by  the  method  of  calculation 
recommended  by  Otis,  and  followed  in  this  case.  According  to  this 
method,  no  person  sixteen  years  of  age  can  possibly  earn  an  I.  Q. 
higher  than  136,  no  one  of  fifteen,  higher  than  139,  and  no  one  of 
fourteen,  higher  than  143.  Since  we  know  from  numerous  other 
studies  that,  according  to  both  individual  and  group  tests  of  intelli- 
gence, the  I.  Q.'s  of  some  high-school  seniors  are  well  above  140,  it 
is  evident  that  the  method  prescribed  by  Otis  has  resulted  undoubt- 
edly in  reducing  the  I.  Q.'s  of  very  superior  seniors.  In  other  words, 
a  constant  negative  error  has  been  introduced  into  a  number  of  the 
intelligence  quotients.  Still  another  limitation  of  the  data  used  is 
that  it  is  unlikely  that  all,  or  even  almost  all,  of  the  high-school  sen- 
iors will  carry  out  their  expressed  intentions  relative  to  higher  edu- 
cation. 

Probable  future  waste  of  human  intelligence  among  the  Illinois 
high-school  seniors.  In  forming  a  judgment  with  reference  to  the 
probable  degree  of  future  waste  of  human  intelligence,  it  is  necessary 
to  bear  in  mind,  in  addition  to  the  limitations  just  cited,  the  fact  that 
we  do  not  possess  information  relative  to  health,  interests,  tempera- 
ment, and  other  factors  which  condition  success  both  in  advanced 
training  and  in  occupational  activities.  However,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
writer,  the  evidence  already  presented  indicates  that  the  waste  is  great 
enough  to  warrant  more  explicit  attention  to  educational  and  vo- 
cational guidance.  It  is  apparent  that  a  considerable  proportion  of 
the  seniors  of  high  intelligence  will  probably  not  be  trained  so  that 
they  will  render  maximum  service  to  society.    Although  this  waste 

[25] 


is  greater  than  that  resulting  from  the  attempts  of  students  of  low 
intelligence  to  carry  courses  of  training  that  are  too  difficult  for  them, 
the  latter  also  is  a  source  of  waste  that  should  not  be  neglected. 

It  should,  however,  be  noted  that  the  facts  presented  show  that 
the  proportion  of  seniors  of  high  intelligence  expecting  to  pursue 
advanced  training  is  somewhat  greater  than  the  proportion  of  those 
of  low  intelligence.  This  condition  may  be  the  result  of  such  educa- 
tional and  vocational  guidance  as  now  prevails,  or  of  some  other 
cause,  but  the  fact  remains  that  the  amount  of  waste  is  somewhat  less 
than  would  be  the  case  if  going  to  college  were  purely  a  matter  of 
chance. 

Relationship  between  college  intentions  and  intelligence  of 
Indiana,  North  Carolina,  and  Massachusetts  high-school  seniors. 
The  data  from  these  three  states  were  not  classified  under  the  same 
headings,  nor  tabulated  in  the  same  way,  as  those  obtained  in  Illinois, 
so  that  they  cannot  be  presented  in  tables  similar  to  II  and  III. 
They  are,  however,  given  in  such  form  that  they  furnish  assistance 
in  dealing  with  the  problem  at  issue.  According  to  the  classification 
used  by  Book  in  the  Indiana  study,  it  appears  that  17  percent  of 
the  seniors  who  were  planning  not  to  attend  college  possessed  intel- 
ligence high  enough  to  permit  little  doubt  of  their  being  able  to  do 
successful  work.  On  the  other  hand,  26  percent  of  those  expecting  to 
attend  college  made  such  low  scores  on  the  Intelligence  test  that  it  is 
very  unlikely  they  could  do  satisfactory  work.  Stating  the  facts  in  a 
different  way,  about  one-fourth  of  those  of  high  intelligence  did  not 
expect  to  go  to  college,  whereas  about  two-thirds  of  those  of  low 
intelligence  expected  to  do  so. 

Since  in  the  North  Carolina  study,  critical  points  that  separate 
those  seniors  of  high,  average,  and  low  intelligence  are  not  indicated, 
and  since  the  scores  were  not  turned  into  I.  Q.'s,  the  data  obtained 
cannot  be  handled  in  quite  the  same  way  as  those  from  Illinois  and 
Indiana.  If,  however,  we  consider  that  those  in  the  highest  quartile 
of  the  whole  distribution  possessed  high  intelligence,  and  those  in 
the  lowest  quartile  low  intelligence,  the  following  statements  may  be 
made:  about  17  percent  of  those  in  the  highest  quartile  either  were 
planning  not  to  attend  college  or  were  undecided,  and  about  54  per- 
cent of  those  in  the  lowest  quartile  were  planning  to  attend  college. 
Stating  it  the  other  way,  about  13  percent  of  those  who  were 
undecided  or  planning  not  to  continue  their  training  were  in  the 

[26] 


highest  quartile,  whereas  about  20  percent  of  those  who  planned  to 
go  to  college  were  in  the  lowest  quartile. 

In  the  Massachusetts  study,  Colvin  and  AlacPhail  classified  the 
high-school  seniors,  on  the  basis  of  their  intelligence  test  scores  as 
to  their  probable  success  in  college.  According  to  their  criterion,  15 
percent  of  those  who  planned  not  to  continue  their  education  were 
good  college  risks. 

Distribution  of  Indiana,  North  Carolina,  and  Massachusetts 
seniors  with  reference  to  higher  institutions.  In  these  three  states, 
no  classification  of  higher  institutions  on  the  basis  of  length  of 
courses  was  made.  Those  upon  the  basis  of  type  of  work  ofi^ered 
differ  among  themselves  and  also  from  that  used  in  the  Illinois 
investigation.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  results  tend  to  agree  with 
those  obtained  in  Illinois.  The  intelligence  of  those  seniors  who 
intended  to  take  training  preparing  them  for  the  so-called  higher 
professions  was  in  general  somewhat  above  that  of  the  remainder. 
Similarly,  in  so  far  as  it  can  be  determined  from  the  classifications 
used,  there  was  a  fair  degree  of  agreement  as  to  the  groups  which 
ranked  lowest  in  average  intelligence. 

Probable  future  waste  of  human  intelligence  among  Indiana, 
North  Carolina,  and  Massachusetts  high-school  seniors.  In  consid- 
ering the  data  from  these  three  states,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that,  except  for  the  errors  in  some  of  the  Illinois  I.  Q.'s,  caused  by 
Otis'  method  of  computation,  the  data  from  these  states  are  subject 
to  the  same  limitations  as  those  from  Illinois.  Their  general  trend 
is  in  close  accord  with  that  of  the  Illinois  data,  and  tends  to  support 
the  conclusions  already  advanced.  It  is  apparent  that,  in  these  states 
as  well  as  in  Illinois,  many  high-school  seniors  of  superior  intelligence 
are  not  planning  to  secure  suitable  training,  and  that  many  of  inferior 
intelligence  are  planning  to  secure  more  training  than  will  be  profit- 
able. It  is  likewise  true  that  the  average  intelligence  of  those  who 
expect  to  go  to  college  is  higher  than  that  of  those  who  do  not  expect 
to  do  so,  so  that  the  amount  of  waste  is  not  as  great  as  it  might  be. 
It  is,  however,  great  enough  to  justify  serious  efforts  to  reduce  it. 

Waste  due  to  maladjustment  between  supply  and  social  need 
for  trained  workers.  In  the  absence  of  an  explicit  determination  of 
the  future  social  needs  for  trained  workers  in  the  various  occupa- 
tional fields  and  other  necessary  information,  it  is  not  possible  to 
determine  the  amount  of  maladjustment  between  the  supply  of,  and 

[27] 


the  demand  for,  workers,  even  if  we  assume  that  every  high-school 
senior  who  supplied  information  carries  out  his  intentions  with  refer- 
ence to  higher  education.  Since  the  relationship  between  the  supply 
of  workers  and  occupational  positions  is  closer  than  that  between  the 
supply  and  college  intentions,  this  question  will  be  dealt  with  very 
briefly  here,  but  at  somewhat  more  length  in  the  succeeding  chapter. 
A  glance  at  the  totals  columns  of  Tables  II  and  III,  however,  makes 
it  evident  that  the  proportions  of  seniors  planning  to  secure  training 
of  various  sorts  are  not  in  agreement  with  the  future  demands  of 
society.  The  most  outstanding  instance  of  this  is  in  the  case  of 
engineering.  About  one-third  of  all  the  boys  who  intended  going  to 
college  planned  to  take  engineering  courses.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  this  is  a  much  larger  proportion  than  should  undertake  this 
sort  of  work.  Likewise,  the  proportions  of  boys  specifying  law  and 
medicine,  and  of  girls  specifying  education,  are  probably  too  large, 
although  one  cannot  be  sure  that  serious  waste  will  result  here. 

Without  going  into  detail,  it  may  be  said  that  the  data  from  the 
other  states  are,  on  this  point,  in  general  agreement  with  those  from 
Illinois.  The  proportion  of  boys  expecting  to  take  engineering  courses 
was  in  all  cases  very  large.  The  agreement  in  the  case  of  boys  plan- 
ning to  take  legal  and  medical  training  and  of  girls  to  take  teachers' 
training,  is  not  so  marked. 

Summary.  The  evidence  presented  in  this  chapter  may  be  sum- 
marized briefly  as  follows:  In  the  four  states  from  which  data  were 
obtained,  and,  therefore,  probably  in  most  of  our  states,  (1)  there 
are  many  seniors  with  low  intelligence  quotients  who  plan  to  secure 
collegiate  training;  (2)  there  are  also  many  seniors  of  high  intelli- 
gence who  do  not  expect  to  secure  the  training  most  profitable  for 
them;  and  (3)  the  proportions  of  seniors  intending  to  take  training 
of  various  sorts  do  not  agree  with  the  probable  future  needs  for 
trained  workers.  Although  the  waste  resulting  from  these  sources 
is  somewhat  less  than  it  might  be,  it  is,  nevertheless,  great  enough  to 
indicate  that  more  attention  should  be  given  to  educational  and  voca- 
tional guidance,  as  probably  the  best  mediums  of  reducing  its 
amount. 

A  few  general  suggestions  concerning  educational  guidance. 
The  writer  does  not  purpose  to  attempt  to  formulate  a  detailed  plan 
of   educational    and  vocational^   guidance    for   use   in     high    schools, 


"In  the  next  chapter,  there  will  be  a  brief  discussion  of  vocational  guidance. 

[28] 


although  he  does  wish  to  state  that  he  beUeves  that  all  high  schools 
should  have  a  system  of  educational  guidance.  iMl  students  should 
be  given  one  or  more  intelligence  tests.  Upon  the  basis  of  the  results 
from  these  tests,  their  school  records,  the  judgments  of  their  teach- 
ers, and  all  other  data  that  are  pertinent,  they  should  be  advised 
concerning  their  future  educational  plans.  All  of  those  who  appear 
able  to  do  satisfactory  college  work  should  be  strongly  advised  to 
continue  their  training.  The  s)'Stem  of  giving  this  advice  should  be 
well  organized  and  complete,  so  that  not  merely  some  one  adviser, 
but  all  the  teachers  with  whom  each  student  has  any  considerable 
contact,  should  discuss  the  matter  with  him  and  offer  him  substan- 
tially the  same  advice.  In  many  cases,  the  matter  should  also  be 
discussed  with  his  parents.  In  short,  strong  pressure  should  be 
brought  to  bear  to  convince  all  those  concerned  that  every  high- 
school  senior  who  can  profit  by  further  educational  training,  should 
receive  it. 


[29] 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  VOCATIONAL  CHOICES  OF  HIGH- 
SCHOOL  SENIORS 

The  problem  of  this  chapter.  In  this  chapter,  we  are  concerned 
with  vocational  choices  instead  of  intentions  as  to  higher  education. 
The  first  question  to  be  answered  is,  "How  much  waste  results  from 
the  lack  of  agreement  between  the  distribution  of  the  vocational 
choices  of  high-school  seniors  and  the  probable  needs  of  society  for 
workers?"  The  second  question  to  be  considered  is,  "How  great  is 
the  waste  of  human  intelligence  that  results:  (1)  because  some 
seniors  of  superior  intelligence  plan  to  enter  vocations  which  will 
not  afford  opportunity  for  society  to  receive  maximum  occupational 
returns  from  their  intelligence;  and  (2)  because  some  seniors  of 
inferior  intelligence  plan  to  enter  vocations  which  require  for  success 
so  high  a  degree  of  intelligence  that  they  will,  in  all  probability,  be 
complete  or  partial  failures  therein:" 

Plan  of  assembling  data  obtained  in  the  Illinois  study.  In  the 
Illinois  study,  fewer  answers  were  received  to  the  question  concern- 
ing vocational  choices  than  to  any  other  of  those  asked.  Of  the  more 
than  12,000  seniors  included,  only  about  7,000  answered  this  ques- 
tion definitely;  approximately  1,500  stated  that  they  were  undecided; 
and  about  3,500  gave  no  answer  at  all.  In  this  connection,  it  is  worth 
mentioning  that  almost  65  percent  of  the  girls  gave  definite  answers, 
whereas  less  than  55  percent  of  the  boys  did  so.  Probably  most  of 
those  who  did  not  answer  should  be  classed  with  the  undecided 
group,  although  some  of  them  may  not  have  named  their  chosen 
occupations  because  they  were  more  or  less  ashamed  to  do  so,  the 
occupations  not  ranking  very  high  in  public  esteem. 

The  vocational  choices  given  by  the  seniors^  were  classified 
under  headings  similar  to  those  used  in  the  federal  census  report  on 
occupations.  They  diff"er  in  that  all  laborers  were  grouped  together, 
rather  than  according  to  the  kind  of  work,  and  that  only  four  or  five 


^Some  125  different  vocations  were  mentioned  by  the  seniors. 

[30] 


TABLE  IV.— PERCENTS  OF  VOCATIONAL  CHOICES.OF  ILLINOIS  HIGH- 
SCHOOL  SENIORS,  BY  SEXES^ 


Vocational  Choice 


Clerical  Work 

Engineering 

Farming  and  Forestry 

Law 

Medicine 

Philanthropic  Work 

Public  Entertainment 

Publicity 

Skilled  Manuf.  and  Mech.  Work 
Skilled  Transportation  Work. . . . 

Teaching 

Trade 

Miscellaneous  Professions 

Miscellaneous 


Bovs 


3.7 

30.4 

9.6 

6.8 

7.1 

.9 

1.4 

3.6 

5.2 

1.5 

9.8 

16.7 

2.7 

.7 


Girls 


23.9 

.4 

.1 

.2 

5.7 

.7 

2.9 

1.4 

.2 

.1 

58.9 

3.6 

1.6 

.4 


Both 


15.9 

12.4 

3.9 

2.9 

6.3 

.7 

2.3 

2.2 

2.2 

.6 

39.2 

8.8 

2.1 

.5 


"In   this,   and    also   in   Tables   V,   V'l,    and   V'll,   those   who   were    undecided    or   did    not   answer 
are   not  included. 


of  the  more  common  professions  were  listed  separately,  the  others 
being  grouped  together.   The  groups  used  were  as  follows: 

Clerical  work  Skilled   manufacturing 

Engineering  and  mechanical  work 

Farming  and  forestry  Skilled  transportation 

Law  work 

Medicine  Teaching 

Philanthropic  work  Trade 

Public  entertainment  Miscellaneous   professions 

Publicity  Miscellaneous 

The  vocational  choices  of  Illinois  high-school  seniors.  Figure  1 
presents  the  percents  of  Illinois  senior  boys  and  girls  indicating  the 
various  vocational  preferences  and  includes  only  the  seniors  who 
gave  definite  answers,  (about  7,000).  In  the  figure,  the  boys  are 
represented  by  the  black  surfaces,  the  girls  by  the  white  ones. 
Table  IV  presents  the  same  data  with  an  additional  column  showing 
the  percents  of  both.  It  will  be  seen  that,  of  the  boys  who  made 
definite  choices,  almost  one-third  named  engineering,  one-sixth  trade, 
one-tenth  teaching,  and  another  tenth  farming  and  forestry.  Almost 
three-fifths  of  the  girls  chose  teaching,  and  almost  one-fourth  clerical 
work.    Although  at  least  a  few  of  each  sex  were  included  in  every 


[31] 


Cler. 

3.7 
23.9 

50.4 

,4 

^B 

1 

Engin. 

F.  4     F. 

9.C 
.1 

f 

LDor. 

6.C 
.2 

^" 

Medic. 

7.1 

5.7 

'.7 

i^" 

Philan. 

^ 

Pub.   Ent. 

1.4 
2.9 

t 

Public. 

3.6 
1.4 

^ 

Sk.  M  i  k' 

5.2 
•      .2 

P- 

Sk.   Tr. 

1.5 
.1 

F 

Teach. 

9.8 
56.9 

16.7 
3.C 

■^^H 

- 

Trade . 

ia.sc.  p. 

2.7 

1.6 

f 

Boys 
Girls 

■IB 

1        1 

lasc. 

.7 
.4 

f 

0   .5   6   9   12  15  18  21  24  27  30  33  36  39  42  45  48  51   54  57  60 
Percent 

Figure  1.    Percexts  of  Illinois  Boys  and  Girls  Making  \'arious 
Vocational  Choices  * 
*Th:s  figure  includes  only  those  seniors  who  made  definite  vocational  choices. 


vocational  group,  the  percents  of  girls  in  half  the  groups  were  less 
than  one,  whereas  the  percents  of  boys  were  less  in  only  two  cases. 
Vocational  choices  of  the  seniors  who  gave  no  definite  answers. 
In  connection  with  the  distribution  of  seniors  in  the  various  groups, 
some  consideration  should  be  given  to  the  probable  vocational 
choices  of  the  5,000  seniors  who  either  were  undecided  or  did  not 
answer.  The  writer  believes  the  assumption  justified  that  a  large 
proportion  of  those  seniors  will  enter  vocations  requiring  little 
specific  training.  For  such  vocations  as  engineering  and  medicine,  it 
is  necessary  to  pursue  a  rather  definite  and  long  course  of  training 
after  high-school  graduation.  This  necessitates  an  earlier  vocational 
decision  than  is  necessary  to  enter  an  occupation  requiring  little  or 
no  specific  training.    The  one  noteworthy  exception  is  that  a  rather 

[32] 


TABLE  v.— PERCENTS  OF  VOCATIONAL  CHOICES 
SCHOOL  SENIORS,  BY  SEXES 

OF  INDIANA  HIGH- 

Vocational  Choice 

Boys 

Girls 

Both 

Physicians 

Teachers 

Lawyers 

Scientists 

Engineers 

3.7 

5.4 

5.0 

3.0 

31.3 

11.0 

1.2 

.7 

13.2 

.3 

.2 

.4 

23.7 

.9 

.0 

.0 

1.9 

47.0 

1.4 

.1 

.2 

!o 

.9 

33.6 

.2 

.8 

1.1 

6.7 

.4 

.0 

5.2 

.5 

2.6 

29.7 

2.9 

1.3 

13.2 

Business 

4.6 

Journalists 

1.0 

Clerical  Workers 

19.9 

Skilled  Mechanics 

Entertainers 

5.5 
.6 

Social  Workers 

.8 

Musicians 

4.0 

Minister 

10.1 
.4 

Home  Makers 

3.0 
.3 

large  group  of  seniors  who  were  planning  to  carry  liberal  arts  courses 
did  not  name  any  vocations.  A  liberal  arts  course  gives  most,  if  not 
all  of  the  preparation  required  for  teaching,  and  is  also  frequently 
pursued  as  a  preliminary  to  various  professional  courses.  With  the 
exception  of  this  group,  the  writer  believes  that  the  large  majority 
of  those  who  gave  no  definite  answer  will  enter  some  one  of  the  fol- 
lowing half-dozen  occupational  groups  in  which  the  workers  usually 
have  little  or  no  special  training:  clerical  work,  farming,  skilled 
manufacturing  and  mechanical  work,  skilled  transportation  work, 
trade,  and  miscellaneous.^ 

Vocational  choices  of  Indiana,  North  Carolina,  and  Massachu- 
setts high-school  seniors.  Although  the  classifications  of  vocational 
choices  made  in  the  other  studies  are  not  just  the  same  as  that  used 
in  the  Illinois  investigation,  they  resemble  it  sufficiently  to  afford 
more  or  less  comparable  data.  In  considering  the  data  from  the 
other  three  states,  only  those  for  the  seniors  who  made  definite 
choices  will  be  included  in  Tables  V,  VI,  and  VII,  and  discussed  in 
the  text.^ 


The  miscellaneous  group  was  composed  largely  of  laborers  and  serv'ants. 

Definite  v^ocational  choices  were  not  given  by  46.9  percent  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina seniors,  38.3  percent  of  the  Indiana  seniors,  and  about  20  percent  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts seniors. 


[33] 


TABLE  VL— PERCENTS  OF  VOCATIONAL  CHOICES  OF  NORTH 
CAROLINA  HIGH-SCHOOL  SENIORS 


Vocational  Choice 

Both 

Arts 

6.4 

Medicine 

Business .    .  . 

10.3 

3.7 

Religious 

Engineering 

Law 

4.7 

10.3 

4.9 

Teaching 

Music 

28.0 
6.1 

Commercial 

17.2 

Physical  Directorship 

Nursing 

Mechanics 

3.4 

1.7 
1.2 

Miscellaneous 

2.0 

TABLE  VII.— PERCENTS  OF  VOCATIONAL  CHOICES  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 
HIGH-SCHOOL  SENIORS,  BY  SEXES 


Vocational  Choice 

Boys 

Girls 

Both 

Professional 

Clerical  Workers 

50 

11 

16 

9 

10 

0 

4 

45 
45 
5 
1 
0 
4 
0 

47 
32 

Skilled  Artisan 

8 

Foreman  and  Business  Executive 

4 

Salesman  and  Clerk .... 

4 

Home  Making 

3 

Farmers 

2 

Table  V  presents  the  figures  for  the  Indiana  seniors.  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  percent  of  boys  intending  to  take  engineering  is  approx- 
imately the  same  as  in  the  case  of  Illinois,  being  nearly  one-third  of 
those  who  stated  definite  choices.  Likewise,  the  number  of  girls  plan- 
ning to  teach  is  very  large,  being  almost  one-half  of  the  girls.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  a  much  larger  proportion  of  the  Indiana  boys 
expected  to  become  skilled  mechanics  and  farmers  than  was  true  in 
any  other  investigation.  Because  of  this,  the  distribution  of  senior 
boys  in  Indiana  will  probably  approximate  the  needs  of  society  more 
nearly  than  in  the  other  states  from  which  data  are  available.  Among 
the  girls,  the  number  of  clerical  workers  was  large,  being  about  one- 
third  of  those  making  definite  choices.    It  is  not  certain,  however, 

[34] 


that  there  will  not  be  a  place  for  such  a  large  proportion  in  the 
business  world.  Probably  more  girls  were  planning  to  become  musi- 
cians and  nurses  than  will  be  needed. 

Table  VI  gives  the  percents  of  North  Carolina  seniors  making 
various  vocational  choices.  It  will  be  seen  that,  on  the  whole,  these 
tend  to  agree  with  the  corresponding  data  for  the  Illinois  and  Indiana 
seniors.  Since  they  are  not  given  by  sexes,  the  comparison  cannot  be 
made  exactly.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  more  North  Carolina 
seniors  intended  to  enter  medicine,  engineering,  and  teaching,  than 
will  be  needed  to  supply  the  social  demand.  The  commercial  group 
also  is  large. 

The  data  for  Massachusetts,  which  are  given  in  Table  VII,  are 
not  so  grouped  that  one  can  determine  the  proportion  of  boys  who 
intend  to  be  engineers.  The  whole  professional  group,  however, 
contains  one-half  of  all  those  making  definite  choices,  which  is  too 
many.  Except  for  this,  it  is  not  apparent  that  any  of  the  groups 
named  contains  too  great  a  proportion  of  boys.  The  professional  and 
clerical  groups  each  contain  45  percent  of  the  girls,  which  is 
undoubtedly  too  large  a  proportion. 

Difficulties  in  the  way  of  determining  the  proportions  of  seniors 
which  should  enter  each  occupation.  There  are  no  data  available 
which  show  just  what  the  needs  of  society  are  at  present  or,  still 
more  important,  what  they  will  be  in  the  future.  Neither  does  any 
one  know  just  what  part  of  all  those  engaged  in  any  occupation 
should  come  from  the  ranks  of  high-school  graduates.  We  know 
approximately  how  many  individuals  are  engaged  in  each  occupation 
at  present,  but  we  do  not  know  how  nearly  these  numbers  approach 
those  best  suited  to  the  needs  of  society,  nor  how  such  needs  will 
change.  One  hears  it  said,  for  example,  that  we  have  more  lawyers 
than  we  need,  and  that  we  do  not  have  enough  farmers,  but  these 
are  mere  statements  of  opinion  and,  even  if  accepted  as  true,  do  not 
supply  numerical  data  as  to  how  many  law}^ers  or  farmers  are 
needed.  We  know,  also,  that  the  number  of  workers  in  certain  voca- 
tions is  decreasing  and  in  others  increasing.  It  appears  that  these 
tendencies  probably  will  continue  for  a  considerable  time  in  the 
future,  but  we  cannot  be  sure  that  this  will  occur.  The  proportions 
of  workers  in  other  lines  of  work  have  been  fairly  constant  for  a  long 
period  and  are  likely  to  remain  so.  Again,  however,  we  cannot  be 
sure  that  this  will  follow.  We  know,  too,  that  there  are  many  voca- 
tions which  cannot  be  entered  without  at  least  a  high-school  educa- 

[35] 


tion.  The  present  tendency  appears  to  be  to  increase  the  number  of 
such  vocations  but  we  cannot  be  sure  that  this  will  continue  in  the 
future. 

Another  point  that  should  be  considered  in  this  connection  is 
whether  or  not  it  is  desirable  that  the  proportion  of  seniors  entering 
a  given  occupation  should  be  no  greater  than  the  number  of  persons 
who  should  be  engaged  therein  to  meet  society's  needs.  It  may  be 
that  it  is  desirable  to  have  more  persons  entering  many,  if  not  all,  of 
the  occupations  which  require  a  considerable  amount  of  ability  and 
training,  or  in  which  the  workers  perform  services  of  value  to  society. 
An  argument  to  support  this  view  is  that  such  a  condition  makes 
competition  keener  and  that  this  may  result  in  better  services  being 
rendered.  Furthermore,  the  fact  that  more  persons  than  are  needed 
enter  an  occupation  probably  results  in  the  elimination  of  a  number 
of  those  least  fitted  for  that  line  of  work.  Although  the  writer  has 
mentioned  this  point  of  view  as  one  that  deserves  consideration, 
he  does  not  believe  that  it  justifies  the  entrance  into  any  vocation 
of  very  many  more  than  the  required  proportion.  Even  though  it  is 
not  necessary  to  put  forth  one's  best  efforts  to  remain  in  a  given 
vocation,  it  will  always  be  necessary  to  do  so  in  order  to  attain  high 
standing  and  large  material  rewards,  and  this  spur  to  competition,  in 
his  opinion,  will  be  sufficient. 

The  agreement  between  vocational  choices  and  the  future  needs 
of  society.  Although  there  is  no  satisfactory  criterion  available  with 
which  the  proportions  of  seniors  making  various  vocational  choices 
may  be  compared  in  order  to  determine  how  well  social  needs  will 
be  met,  some  tentative  conclusions  upon  the  subject  can  be  drawn. 
Table  VIII  presents  a  comparison  of  the  percents  of  Illinois  seniors 
with  the  percents  of  the  total  employed  population  of  the  United 
States  in  each  occupational  group.  The  census  figures  are  from  the 
1920  census  and  include  all  employed  persons  eighteen  or  more  years 
of  age.  Those  from  ten  to  seventeen  years  of  age,  inclusive,  were 
eliminated  because  comparatively  few  high-school  seniors  are  grad- 
uated and  enter  vocations  until  after  they  are  seventeen.  Perhaps 
the  most  outstanding  fact  shown  by  Table  VIII  is  that,  as  a  general 
rule,  the  proportions  of  high-school  seniors  choosing  the  "white 
collar"  occupations  are  much  greater  than  the  proportions  of  all 
employed  persons  engaged  therein,  and,  conversely,  that  the  propor- 
tions of  seniors  choosing  occupations  requiring  manual  labor  are 
comparatively    small    in    comparison    with    the    proportions    already 

[36] 


TABLE  VIII.— PERCENTS  OF  ILLINOIS  HIGH-SCHOOL  SENIORS  CHOOSING 

VARIOUS  OCCUPATIONS  COMPARED  WITH  PERCENTS  OF  ALL 

PERSONS  OVER  18  YEARS  OF  AGE  ENGAGED  THEREIN 

ACCORDING  TO  THE  1920  CENSUS 


Occupation 


Clerical  Work 

Engineering 

Farming  and  Forestry 

Law 

Medicine 

Philanthropic  Work 

Public  Entertainment 

Publicity 

Skilled  Manuf.  and  Mech.  Work 
Skilled  Transportation  Work  . .  . 

Teaching 

Trade 

Miscellaneous  Professions 

Miscellaneous 


Boys 


Seniors 


3.7 
30.4 
9.6 
6.8 
7.1 

.9 
1.4 
3.6 
5.2 
1.5 
9.8 
16.7 
2.7 

.7 


Cer 


4.3 
.7 

28.8 
.4 
.7 
.5 
.3 
.1 

25.0 

6.8 

.6 

10.9 
.3 

20.6 


Girls 


Seniors 


23.9 

.4 

.1 

.2 

5.7 

.7 

2.9 

1.4 

.2 

.1 

58.9 

3.6 

1.6 

.4 


Census 


14.7 

.1 

10.7 

.02 

2.3 

.5 

.8 

.1 

19.6 

2.3 

9.0 

10.0 

.5 

29.4 


employed  in  such  occupations.  On  the  whole,  there  Is  no  agreement 
between  the  percents  choosing  the  various  occupations  and  those 
already  engaged  in  them.  The  coefficient  of  correlation  is  practically 
zero.  Similar  tables  are  not  presented  for  the  other  states,  as  they 
would  merely  furnish  further  evidence  of  the  same  kind. 

It  is  impossible  to  state  the  amount  of  waste  resulting  from  the 
maladjustment  of  vocational  choices  to  the  needs  of  society  in  even 
approximately  exact  quantitative  terms,  but  the  evidence  previously 
presented  seems,  to  the  writer,  sufficient  to  justify  the  statement  that 
the  amount  of  such  waste  is  relatively  great.  Certainly  at  least  one- 
fourth,  and  perhaps  as  many  as  one-half,  of  our  high-school  seniors 
will  find  it  necessary  to  alter  their  vocational  plans  if  the  proportions 
engaged  in  various  occupations  are  anything  like  those  which  fit 
society's  needs.  It  is  possible  to  object  to  this  statement  on  the 
ground  that,  although  the  vocational  choices  of  our  workers  should 
agree  approximately  with  the  demands  of  society,  those  of  high- 
school  seniors  should  not,  or  at  least  need  not,  do  so.  This  implies 
that  many  of  our  workers  will  not  be  high-school  graduates,  and  that 
from  the  ranks  of  these  non-graduates  will  come  most  of  our  un- 
skilled workers.    Although  the  writer  admits  that  this  is  true  to  a 


[37] 


TABLE  IX.— DISTRIBUTION  OK  THE  VOCATIONAL  CHOICES  OF  SENIOR 

BOYS  IN  ILLINOIS  HIGH  SCHOOLS  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  THEIR 

INTELLIGENCE  QUOTIENTS 


Intelligence  Quotient 

Vocational  Choice 

60- 

70- 

80- 

90- 

100- 

110- 

120- 

130- 

Total 

Median 

Clerical  Work   

1 

1 
1 

1 

1 

8 
36 
16 

5 
8 
1 
2 
3 
6 
1 
18 
22 
3 
1 

37 

155 

73 

33 

54 

6 

11 

10 

40 

10 

80 

104 

10 

5 

34 

309 

100 

60 

67 

5 

13 
47 
59 
18 
107 
170 
36 
10 

20 

255 

56 

53 

48 

7 

10 

32 

35 

10 

54 

120 

15 

8 

99 

16 

31 

10 

6 

2 

8 

10 
4 
17 
45 
10 
2 

9 
2 
4 
1 

6 

1 

3 

108 

868 

266 

190 

189 

25 

38 

100 

157 

43 

277 

462 

74 

21 

102 
108 
104 
109 

Farming  and  Forestry 

Law        .           

Medicine 

105 

Philanthropic  Work 

111 

Public  Entertainment 

Publlcitv 

105 
108 

SkilledManuf.andMech.Work 
Skilled  Trans.  Work 

105 
106 

Teaching 

104 

Trade 

106 

Miscellaneous  Professions 

Miscellaneous 

107 
105 

Total  Making  Choice 

1 

15 

130 

628 

1035 

715 

268 

26 

2818 

106 

Undecided 

1 
2 
5 

8 
23 
19 

42 
172 
126 

208 
836 
467 

257 

1292 

638 

192 
907 
333 

70 
338 
101 

1 

27 
4 

779 
3597 
1693 

105 

Total  Answering 

106 

Not  Answering 

104 

Grand  Total 

7 

42 

298 

1303 

1930 

1240 

439 

31 

5290 

105 

very  limited  extent,  he  does  not  believe  that  such  a  condition  should 
obtain  for  any  large  proportion  of  our  young  people.  He  believes  that 
it  should  be  one  of  the  fundamental  ideals  of  our  democratic  system 
of  education  that  every  young  person  who  can  profit  thereby  should 
receive  a  high-school  education  and,  furthermore,  that  the  high- 
school  education  offered  should  be  of  such  a  sort  that  the  large 
majority  of  our  young  people  can  profit  by  receiving  it. 

Relationship  between  the  vocational  choices  and  intelligence 
of  Illinois  high-school  seniors.  Tables  IX  and  X  present  summaries 
of  the  facts  relative  to  the  vocational  choices  and  the  intelligence  of  the 
senior  boys  and  girls  of  Illinois  high  schools.  For  example,  the  first 
line  of  Table  IX  shows  that  there  was  one  senior  boy  planning  to 


[38] 


TABLE  X.— DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  VOCATIONAL  CHOICES  OF  SENIOR 

GIRLS  IN  ILLINOIS  HIGH  SCHOOLS  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  THEIR 

INTELLIGENCE  QUOTIENTS 


Vocational  Choice 


Intelligence  Quotient 


60-    70-    80-   90-100-110-120-130-  Total  Median 


Clerical  Work 

Engineering 

Farming  and  Forestry 

Law 

Medicine 

Philanthropic  Work 

Public  Entertainment 

Publicity 

SkilledManuf.andMech.Work 

Skilled  Trans.  Work 

Teaching 

Trade 

Miscellaneous  Professions  .... 
Miscellaneous 

Total  Making  Choice 

Undecided 

Total  Answering 

Not  Answering 

Grand  Total 


82 


19 


149 

17 
3 
1 


345 

3 


6 

4 

676 

30 

18 

6 


401 
4 
1 
1 

88 

11 

58 

27 

3 

3 

933 

69 

23 

4 


146 

4 

2 

3 

42 

8 

30 

18 

1 

541 
34 
20 

2 


30 

2 

4 
6 
2 
8 
9 
1 

126 
1 
2 
1 


1013 
13 

3 

10 

244 

28 

123 

61 

9 

4 

2458 

153 

68 

14 


102 
109 
113 
117 
102 
107 
106 
109 
102 
107 
104 
104 
105 
100 


35 


280 


1200 


1626 


851 


192 


13 


4201 


66 

346 
216 


193 
1393 

547 


286 

1912 

631 


129 
980 
260 


26 

218 

38 


712 
4913 

1725 


10 


70 


562 


1940 


2543 


1240 


256 


17 


6638 


104 


103 
103 
101 


103 


enter  clerical  work  who  had  an  I.  Q.  of  from  70  to  79,  eight  with 
I.Q.'s  of  from  80  to  89,  and  so  on  to  eight  with  I.Q.'s  between  120 
and  129.  There  were  108  boys  in  this  group,  and  their  median  I.Q. 
was  102. 

Figure  2  presents  in  graphical  form  a  portion  of  the  same  data. 
In  it  are  shown  the  middle  fifty  percent,  according  to  intelligence 
quotients,  of  the  Illinois  boys  and  girls  in  each  vocational  group. 
The  hatched  surfaces  represent  the  boys,  the  plain  ones  the  girls. 
The  figure  shows,  for  example,  that  the  middle  fifty  percent  of  the 
boys  choosing  law  had  I.Q.'s  between  about  101  and  118,  with  a 
median  of  approximately  109. 

With  regard  to  the  second  question  raised  at  the  beginning  of 
this  chapter,  the  significant  facts  in  these  tables  are:    (1)  the  number 


[39] 


Law. 

Engin. 

Philan. 

Public. 

Sk,  Tr. 

Misc.  P. 

Pub.   Ent. 

Trade, 

Sk.  U.   &  U. 

Undec . 

F.  &  F. 

Teach. 

Medic. 

Misc. 

Cler. 

Ho.   Ans.        I 


msMmmmmm. 


WUMh 


viiiiiiiiiimmmimiimmii/im^^^^^^^ 


mmimmik 


\ii(inimimmii^m 


w/mmmmm 


wmm/m/m 


wm/////m't////m//////////m//////m 


wiiiiimm 


m 


m 


wimm/Jiiii/mimmmimmm^^^^^ 


mm 


I 1 1 1 1 1 — 

92  96  100  104  108  112 

Intelligence  Quotients 


Boys 
Girls 


116 


120 


124 


Figure  2.   Range  of  Intelligence  Quotients  of  the  Middle  Fifty  Percents  of 
Illinois  Senior  Boys  and  Girls,  According  to  Vocational  Choices* 
*The  short  perpendicular  lines  in  the  bars  represent  the  medians. 


[40] 


of  seniors  having  low  intelligence  quotients  who  planned  to  enter 
v^ocations  requiring  a  high  degree  of  intellectual  ability;  and  (2)  the 
number  of  seniors  of  high  intelligence  planning  to  enter  vocations 
that  do  not  require  as  much  intellectual  ability  as  these  seniors 
possess.  Before  these  facts  can  be  known,  there  must  be  some  de- 
termination of  the  degree  of  intelligence  required  for  success  in  each 
occupation  or  occupational  group.  This  question  has  received  con- 
siderable attention  in  recent  educational  writings.  No  valid  evidence 
that  covers  any  considerable  portion  of  the  field  has  been  presented, 
however.  The  assertion  has  been  made,  and  fairly  well  supported, 
that  a  person  must  have  an  I.Q.  of  110  or  115  in  order  to  be  success- 
ful in  most  of  the  professions;  than  an  I.Q.  of  80  or  85  is  as  high  as 
is  required  for  an  efficient  street  car  motorman;  and  so  on.  Even  if 
such  assertions  are  accepted  as  reliable,  they  have  very  limited  value 
at  present.  One  reason  is  that  they  apply,  in  general,  to  large  groups 
of  vocations.  In  only  a  few  cases  have  such  determinations  been 
made  for  single,  narrowly  defined  occupations.  A  second  important 
limitation  of  their  use  is  the  difficulty  of  measuring  intelligence  with 
a  sufficiently  high  degree  of  accuracy  and  reliability.  Certainly  a 
single  application  of  any  group  intelligence  test  now  in  existence 
does  not  yield  a  satisfactory  measure.  In  spite  of  these  limitations, 
it  is  possible  to  make  certain  general  statements  with  some  assurance. 
There  seems  little  doubt  that  all  occupations  may  be  thrown  into  a 
few  large  groups  and  the  statement  made  that  a  certain  I.  Q.  is  suffi- 
cient to  enable  one  to  succeed  fairly  well  in  each  class.  It  must  be 
recognized  that  the  limits  between  classes  cannot  be  definitely  fixed 
and  that  there  will  be  many  individual  exceptions. 

Statements  much  stronger  and  more  definite  than  those  just 
made  have  been  put  forth  by  some  writers  on  the  basis  of  the  army 
test  data.  Although,  in  most  cases,  the  samplings  on  which  these  re- 
sults are  based  are  large  enough  to  render  them  fairly  reliable,  great 
caution  should  be  exercised  in  their  use  for  the  purpose  of  determin- 
ing the  levels  of  intelligence  required  for  success  in  various  occupa- 
tions. It  is  true  that  there  is  a  tendency  for  individuals  to  find  work 
suited  to  their  capacities,  but  we  have  no  right  to  assume  that  all,  or 
even  a  decided  majority,  of  those  at  present  engaged  in  most  lines 
of  work  have  just  the  degree  of  intelligence  which  best  fits  them 
for  such  work.  Neither  do  we  have  any  knowledge  concerning  the 
number  of  the  army  recruits  claiming  to  be  engaged  in  certain  occu- 
pations who  were  successful  therein.    For  the  sake  of  comparison, 

[41] 


TABLE  XL— THE  INTELLIGENXE  OF  ILLINOIS  HIGH-SCHOOL  SENIOR 

BOYS  COMPARED  WITH  THAT  OF  ARMY  RECRUITS  ACCORDING 

TO  OCCUPATIONAL  GROUPS 


Occupational  Groups 


Median  I.  Q. 
of  Senior  Boys 


Median  Letter 
Grade  of  Recruits 


Philanthropic  Workers 

Engineers 

Skilled  Trans.  Employees 

Medical  Workers 

Skilled  Manuf.  and  Mech.  Workers 

Farmers  and  Foresters 

Clerical  Workers 


Ill 
108 
106 
105 
105 
104 
102 


A 
B 
C 
B 

C 

c- 

c+ 


however,  Table  XI  presents  the  median  I.Q.'s  of  the  senior  boys 
whose  choice  fell  in  seven*  of  the  occupational  groups  used  in  this 
study  along  with  the  median  letter  grades  of  army  recruits  who 
stated  that  they  belonged  in  these  groups. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  marked  tendency  for  the  medians 
obtained  in  this  study  to  agree  with  those  for  the  army.  The  philan- 
thropic workers  rank  high  in  both;  the  engineers  second  in  one,  and 
tied  for  second  in  the  others;  the  farmers  and  foresters  are  lowest  in 
the  army  findings,  and  next  to  lowest  among  the  senior  boys.  The 
rank  coefficient  of  correlation  between  the  two  sets  of  medians  is 
about  .60. 

It  is  easily  seen  by  glancing  at  Tables  IX  and  X  and  at  Figure 
2  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  seniors  of  inferior  mental  ability 
planned  to  enter  vocations  requiring  a  high  degree  of  intelligence 
and  also  that  many  of  those  mentally  superior  planned  to  enter 
vocations  In  which  high  Intelligence  is  not  necessary  to  success.  For 
example,  almost  one-fourth  of  the  boys  who  chose  engineering,  one- 
third  of  those  who  chose  medicine,  over  one-third  of  those  who  chose 
teaching,  and  over  one-sixth  of  those  who  chose  miscellaneous  pro- 
fessions, had  I.Q.'s  below  100.  On  the  other  hand,  more  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  boys  who  were  planning  to  be  clerical  workers,  the  same 
fraction  of  those  planning  to  enter  farming  and  forestry,  and  almost 
one-third  of  those  planning  to  enter  skilled  manufacturing  and 
mechanical  work  had  I.Q.'s  of  110  or  higher.  Similar  figures  could  be 
quoted  for  the  girls  also.    It  Is  true  that  there  Is  a  tendency  for  the 


*In  the  case  of  the  other  groups  no  comparable  figures  for  the   army   recruits 
are  available. 


[42] 


TABLE  XII.— DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  VOCATIONAL  CHOICES  OF  NORTH 

CAROLINA  HIGH-SCHOOL  SENIORS  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  THEIR 

INTELLIGENCE  TEST  SCORES 

Intelligence  Quotient 

Vocational  Choice 

60- 

70- 

80- 

90- 

100- 

110- 

120- 

130- 

140- 

Total 

Median 

Arts 

2 

1 
6 

1 

1 
1 

1 

1 

4 
3 

5 
1 

1 

3 
3 
3 
3 
4 
2 

22 
5 

10 
3 
3 
2 

4 
9 

2 

5 
13 

7 
33 

5 
25 

\ 

3 

12 
3 
6 

12 
3 

26 
5 

21 
3 
2 
2 
2 

9 
11 

4 
4 
7 
5 

17 
6 
5 
3 
1 

3 

4 
6 

2 

4 
2 
2 
1 
3 

3 

2 

1 
1 

2 

26 
42 
15 
19 

42 

20 

114 

25 

70 

14 

7 

5 

8 

122 

Medical 

117 

Business 

115 

Religious 

113 

Engineering 

Law 

112 
110 

Teaching 

Music 

Commercial 

107 
109 
108 

Physical  Directorship.  .  . 
Nursing 

108 
105 

Mechanics 

98 

Miscellaneous 

126 

Total  making  choice. . .  . 

2 

8 

18 

63 

108 

100 

75 

27 

6 

407 

110 

Undecided 

4 

10 

19 

71 

84 

95 

50 

22 

4 

359 

109 

Grand  Total 

6 

18 

37 

134 

192 

195 

125 

49 

10 

766 

110 

median  I.Q.'s  to  be  higher  in  the  occupational  groups  requiring  the 
highest  intelHgence  and  lowest  in  those  requiring  the  least,  but  the 
differences  between  the  medians  are  comparatively  small  and  the 
overlapping  of  the  distributions  so  great  that  one  Is  justified  In  saying 
that  the  relationship  between  Intelligence  and  vocational  choices  is 
small.  It  seems  evident,  therefore,  that  a  considerable  amount  of 
waste  results  from  the  entrance  of  persons  of  low  intelligence  into 
occupations  too  difficult  for  them,  and  of  those  of  high  Intelligence 
Into  occupations  in  which  they  cannot  make  use  of  all  of  their  mental 
ability. 

The  relationship  between  the  vocational  choices  and  intelligence 
of  North  Carolina,  Indiana,  and  Massachusetts  seniors.  The  reports 
of  the  studies  in  the  last  two  of  these  states  do  not  give  the  distribu- 
tions of  scores,  but  in  that  of  the  North  Carolina  Investigation  they 
are  included,  and  are  presented  In  Table  XII.    One  can  easily  see 


[43] 


I 


TABLE  XIII.— PERCENTS  OF  INDIANA  SENIOR  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  OF 

HIGH  AND  LOW  INTELLIGENCE  IN  EACH 

OCCUPATIONAL  GROUP 


Occupational  Group 


Bovs 


High 


Low 


Girls 


High 


Low 


Journalist 

Minister 

Scientist 

Teacher 

Lawyer 

Clerical  Worker. . 

Engineer 

Business 

Skilled  Mechanic 

Farmer 

Physician 

Social  Service  .  . . 

Entertainer 

Home  Maker 

Nurse 

Stenographer. . . . 
Music  and  Art. . , 


44 
42 
41 
33 
32 
30 
30 
23 
18 
16 
12 


13 
16 
13 
13 
4 
16 
19 
27 
33 
33 
29 


44 


24 
38 


19 
31 

25 
20 
18 
16 
16 


26 
16 


31 

27 
18 
21 
32 
29 
28 


from  this  table  that  much  the  same  conditions  existed  as  were  shown 
in  IlHnois.  In  almost  all  the  occupational  groups  the  range  of  intel- 
ligence was  great.  The  various  professions  were  chosen  by  a  fairly 
large  proportion  of  individuals  of  such  low  intelligence  that  they 
have  little  chance  of  succeeding  in  their  chosen  occupations,  whereas 
in  some  of  the  other  groups  there  were  a  number  possessing  intelli- 
gence higher  than  necessary  for  success  therein. 

Table  XIII  presents  the  data  for  the  Indiana  seniors  in  a  form 
which  is  different  from  that  used  in  Tables  IX,  X,  and  XII,  but 
which,  nevertheless,  shows  that  the  same  conditions  existed  in  In- 
diana as  in  Illinois  and  North  Carolina.  For  example,  29  percent 
of  the  boys  and  21  percent  of  the  girls  planning  to  become  physicians 
possessed  low  intelligence.  Similarly,  19  percent  of  the  boys  planning 
to  become  engineers,  13  percent  of  those  planning  to  become  scien- 
tists, and  various  percents  of  the  other  groups  were  rated  as  of  low 
intelligence.  On  the  other  hand,  30  percent  of  the  boys  in  the  clerical 
group  and  18  percent  of  those  in  the  skilled  mechanics  group  had  a 
high  degree  of  intelligence. 


[44] 


ABLE  XIV.— MEDIAN  POINT  SCORES  OF  THE  MASSACHUSETTS  SENIOR 
BOYS  AND  GIRLS  IN  EACH  OCCUPATIONAL  GROUP 

Occupational  Group 

Boys 

Girls 

Professional 

55 
47 
46 
46 
48 

48 

44 

Clerical  Workers 

41 

Skilled  Artisans 

44 

Foreman  and  Business  Executive 

Salesmen  and  Clerks 

50 

Homemakmg 

43 

Farmers 

These  figures  make  it  evident  that  in  Indiana  also  there  is  a 
considerable  amount  of  waste  due  to  lack  of  agreement  between  in- 
telligence and  vocational  choices. 

The  only  data  available  for  Massachusetts  which  bear  upon  this 
point  are  the  median  scores  of  those  in  the  different  occupational 
groups.  These  are  given  in  Table  XI\  .  They  show  that,  on  the 
whole,  the  boys  in  the  professional  group  and  the  girls  in  the  fore- 
man and  business  executive  group  ranked  high,  whereas  the  boys  in 
the  latter  group  and  also  in  the  skilled  artisan  group,  and  the  girls 
who  are  to  be  clerical  workers,  ranked  low.  We  cannot  obtain  from 
them  any  estimate  of  the  proportion  of  seniors  choosing  vocations 
that  are  too  difficult  or  too  easy  for  their  intelligence. 

The  relationship  between  the  vocational  choices  and  the  aver- 
age school  marks  of  Illinois  seniors.  The  average  school  marks  of 
the  Illinois  seniors  were  tabulated  by  vocational  groups  in  the  hope 
that  they  might  afford  some  evidence  useful  in  the  solution  of  the 
problem  being  studied.  These  are  given  in  Tables  XV  and  X\  I. 
They  indicate  the  same  condition  as  was  shown  by  the  intelligence 
quotients,  that  some  of  the  seniors  intending  to  enter  vocations  which 
require  a  comparatively  high  degree  of  intelligence  made  low  school 
marks,  and  likewise  that  some  of  those  planning  to  enter  vocations 
requiring  only  rather  a  low  degree  of  intelligence  made  high  school 
marks.  Therefore,  in  so  far  as  school  marks  may  be  taken  as  measures 
of  intelligence,  these  data  serve  to  furnish  further  evidence  that  a 
considerable  amount  of  waste  results  from  the  lack  of  agreement 
between  the  intelligence  possessed  by  seniors  and  that  demanded  for 
the  vocations  which  they  plan  to  enter. 


[45] 


TABLE  XV.— DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  VOCATIONAL  CHOICES  OF  SENIOR 
BOYS  IN  ILLINOIS  HIGH  SCHOOLS  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  THEIR 
AVERAGE  SCHOOL  MARKS" 


Avera 

ge  School  Mark 

Vocational  Choice 

E" 

D" 

C- 

C 

B 

A 

A+ 

Total 

Median 

Clerical  Work 

1 

1 

2 
2 
1 

1 
1 

5 
1 

2 
19 
7 
3 
4 

3 

4 

2 

5 

12 

13 

63 

18 

13 

13 

1 

3 

5 

11 

5 

24 

43 

5 

17 
96 
34 
14 
20 

4 

6 
15 
23 

9 
35 
48 
13 

4 

2 

43 

6 

4 

5 

2 
3 
2 
5 

14 

13 

6 

1 

7 
1 
2 
2 

1 

1 
1 
6 
4 
2 
1 

35 

231 

68 

37 

44 

5 

15 

24 

42 

22 

89 

122 

26 

5 

B- 

B- 

B- 

B- 

B- 

B 

B- 

B 

B- 

B 

B-  ; 

B-     • 
B 

B 

1 

Engineering 

Farming  and  Forestry 

Law 

Medicine 

Philanthropic  Work 

Public  Entertainment 

Publicity 

Skilled  Manuf.  and  Mech.  Work .  .  . 
Skilled  Trans.  W^ork 

Teaching 

Trade 

Miscellaneous  Professions 

Miscellaneous 

Total  Making  Choice 

2 

13 

61 

217 

338 

105 

29 

765 

B- 

Undecided 

2 
2 

5 
18 
14 

27 
88 
31 

70 

287 

88 

94 
432 
114 

34 

139 

26 

7 
36 

5 

237 

1002 

280 

B- 
B-     ' 
B-     ( 

Total  Answering 

Not  Answering 

Grand  Total 

4 

32 

119 

375 

546 

165 

41 

1282 

< 

B-     J 

1 

»The  meaning  of  these  marks  is  as  follows-  A  4-.  Tlie  very  best.  A,  Those  well  above  aver- 
age. B,  Strong  average.  C,  Weak  average.  C  —  ,  Barely  passing.  D,  Barely  failing.  E,  Badly 
failing. 

''The  reader  may  wonder  how  a  student  could  become  a  high-school  senior  with  such  a  low 
average  as  E  or  D,  both  of  which  are  failing  marks.  It  appears  that  the  few  seniors  with  these 
averages,  unless  some  error  was  made  by  the  schools  in  reporting  the  marks,  must  have  remained 
in  school  long  enough  to  complete  three  years'  work,  even  though  they  failed  so  many  times  that 
their  averages  were  below  passing.  These  cases  were  scattered  among  a  number  of  schools,  so 
evidently  did  not  result  from  a  misunderstanding  of  directions. 


Summary.   The  question  stated  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter 
may  be  answered  briefly  as  follows:  it  appears  that  from  25  to  50 
percent  of  the  high-school  seniors  Included  in  the  four  studies  dealt 
with  will  have  to  change  their  vocational  plans  in  order  to  bring  the  ' 
number  of  workers  in  the  different  occupations  into  agreement  with 
the  needs  of  society.    Furthermore,  a  rather  large  fraction  of  those  ; 
planning  to  enter  occupations  that  require  a   high  degree  of  Intel-  ! 
ligence  made  such  low  intelligence  test  scores  as  to  indicate  that  they 

[46] 


TABLE  XVI.— DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  VOCATIONAL  CHOICES  OF  SENIOR 

GIRLS  IN  ILLINOIS  HIGH  SCHOOLS  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  THEIR 

AVERAGE  SCHOOL  MARKS 


Averag 

e  School  Mark 

Vocational  Choice 

E 

D 

C- 

C 

B 

A 

A  + 

Total 

Median 

Clerical  Work 

1 

1 
1 

6 

1 

14 

2 

17 

5 

76 

23 

14 
3 

1 

111 

7 

1 

11 

122 

2 
18 

1 
14 

6 

263 

15 

3 

12 

29 

2 
4 

4 
2 

129 

3 
3 
3 

1 

2 
1 
1 

36 
1 
1 

242 

1 

4 
46 

3 
35 
12 

1 

563 

26 

9 

31 

B- 

Engineering 

Farming  and  Forestry 

A+ 

Law 

A- 

Medicine 

c+ 

Philanthropic  Work 

Public  Entertainment 

A+ 
B- 

Publicity 

B 

Skilled  Manuf.  and  Mech.  Work .  .  . 

Skilled  Trans.  Work 

Teaching 

C 
B 

Trade 

B 

Miscellaneous  Professions 

Miscellaneous 

B4- 

C-f- 

Total  Makmg  Choice 

1 

9 

38 

247 

456 

179 

43 

973 

B 

Undecided 

1 
1 

2 

11 

9 

12 
50 
19 

43 

290 

65 

95 

551 
104 

51 

230 

31 

13 

56 

0 

216 

1189 

229 

B 

Total  Answering 

Not  Answering 

B 
B- 

Grand  Total 

2 

20 

69 

355 

655 

261 

56 

1418 

B 

will  not  succeed  in  their  chosen  vocations.  Conversely,  a  fairly  large 
fraction  of  those  entering  the  occupations  that  require  only  a  low 
degree  of  intelligence  possess  a  high  degree  thereof  and  will  not  find 
opportunity  for  its  maximum  use  in  the  vocations  selected.  On  the 
basis  of  the  facts  known,  it  is  practically  impossible  to  make  any 
quantitative  statement  as  to  how  great  the  resulting  waste  is. 

Service  to  be  rendered  by  a  system  of  vocational  guidance.  As 
was  suggested  at  the  end  of  Chapter  III,  the  writer  believes  that  an 
efficient  system  of  vocational  guidance  would  eliminate  a  large,  and 
probably  the  larger,  part  of  the  waste  resulting  from  the  several 
causes  discussed  in  this  chapter.  Such  vocational  guidance  should 
look  both  to  leading  such  numbers  of  individuals  to  enter  the  various 
occupations  as  meet  the  needs  of  society,  and  to  influencing  seniors 

[47] 


to  choose  vocations  for  \\'hlch  their  intelligence  fits  them.  Before 
such  vocational  guidance  can  be  given  with  a  great  degree  of  definite- 
ness,  exhaustive  investigations  must  be  made  to  determine  the  needs 
of  society  at  present  and  as  nearly  as  possible,  in  the  future,  and  to 
discover  approximately  the  optimum  degree  of  intelligence  for  each 
vocation.  The  vocational  advice  to  be  given  a  high-school  senior  or 
anyone  else  should  be  in  something  like  the  following  form: 

"You  appear  to  have  sufficient  intelligence  to  enable  you  to 
succeed  in  such  occupations  as  ...  It  is  very  unlikely  that  you  can 
succeed  in  ...  ,  since  these  demand  a  higher  degree  of  intelligence 
than  you  possess.  Furthermore,  it  would  probably  be  unwise  for  you 
to  enter  such  occupations  as  ...  ,  because  they  do  not  require  the 
use  of  as  much  intelligence  as  you  possess." 

Further  than  this,  the  advice  given  an  individual  should  be  based 
upon  the  consideration  of  many  other  factors,   among  them  being 
social  needs,  the  individual's  health,  strength,  and  temperament,  his 
past  experience,   interests,   opportunities   for  finding   out  something 
concerning  various  vocations,  etc.    Although  we  cannot,  at  present,: 
give  vocational  advice  based  on  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  situa-' 
tion,  we  should  not  hesitate  to  give  such  advice  as  we  can  along  the; 
lines  indicated. 


[48] 


APPENDIX  A 

INFORMATION  BLANK  FOR  HIGH-SCHOOL  SENIORS 

The  following  blank  was  used  to  collect  the  data  for  this  study. 
The  Instructions  for  filling  it  out  were  on  the  reverse. 

INFORMATION  BLANK  FOR  HIGH-SCHOOL  SENIORS 


Name Sex — Boy Girl. 

check    one 

Date  of  Birth Age  on  Sept.  1,  1923... 

month  day  year 

Name  of   School Town  or  City 

J^^See  other  side  for  instructions. 

1.  Do  you  intend  to  go  to  school  after  H.  S. 

graduation? 

2.  If  so,  to  what  institution? 

3.  Check  the  course  you  expect  to  take.  If 
it  is  not  named,  write  it  on  the  blank  line. 
If  you  have  no  idea  as  to  what  you  will 
take,  so  indicate. 

Agriculture Commerce Engineering 

Law Music Medicine 

Teacher-Training Liberal  Arts  or  General 

4.  In  what  subject  will  you  major  or  special- 


5.  What  occupation  or  vocation  will  you  enter? -... 

6.  What  is  your  father's  occupation? 

7.  Have  you  ever  taken  an  intelligence  test  before?.. 

8.  If  so,  when? 


9 

"S 

10 

o 

11 

12 
"5 

Commercial  Wk 
Domestic  Sci 

Hist,  and  Civics 
Latin 

Manual  Train... 

Modern  Foreign 

[49] 


INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  ANSWERING  QUESTIONS 

The  numbers  below  refer  to  the  numbers  of  the  questions. 

1.  This  refers  to  any  sort  of  schooling  above  high  school  whether  college,  normal 
school,  business  school,  or  any  other.  If  possible  it  should  be  answered  by  "yes"  or 
"no."  In  case  you  have  no  intention  one  way  or  the  other,  it  should  be  answered 
"undecided." 

2.  If  you  have  not  definitely  decided  what  institution  you  will  attend  but  expect 
to  attend  a  certain  one  or  have  a  preference  for  one,  name  that  institution. 

3.  4,  5.  The  same  principle  applies  to  these  questions.  If  you  have  not  made  a 
definite  decision  give  your  preference. 

6.  In  giving  father's  occupation  give  that  in  which  he  is  at  present  engaged.  If 
father  is  dead  give  the  last  occupation  at  which  he  worked. 

7.  Answer  by  "yes"  or  "no."   If  you  do  not  know  ask  the  teacher. 

8.  Answer  by  giving  year  if  possible. 

9.  This  question  is:  How  many  semester  credits  or  units  do  you  expect  to  have 
in  each  high-school  subject  when  you  are  graduated.^  It  is  to  be  answered  by  writing 
the  proper  numbers  in  the  column  headed  9.  The  numbers  written  should  give  the 
number  of  semester  credits  or  units  of  work  that  you  expect  to  have  in  each  subject 
when  you  are  graduated  from  high  school.  Ordinarily  a  semester  unit  is  given  for 
passing  in  a  course  meeting  five  times  a  week  for  one  semester.  Four  such  credits 
are  usually  earned  per  semester  by  the  average  pupil.  Consider  Commercial  Arith- 
metic as  commercial  work,  not  as  mathematics.  If  you  are  doubtful  as  to  how 
other  subjects  should  be  classified,  ask  the  teacher. 

10.  What  is  your  favorite  high-school  subject.^  A  number  1  should  be  written 
in  the  column  headed  10  after  your  favorite  school  subject  and  a  number  2  after 
your  second  choice. 

11.  WTiat  high-school  subject  do  you  like  least?  A  number  1  should  be  written 
in  the  column  headed  11  after  the  subject  that  you  like  least  and  a  number  2  after 
the  one  which  you  like  next  to  least. 

12.  How  many  times  have  you  failed  in  each  high-school  subject?  If  you  have 
failed  in  any  subjects  write  the  number  of  times  after  each.  This  should  be  hi  the 
column  headed  12. 


[50] 


APPENDIX  B 

DIFFERENCES  AMONG  ILLINOIS  SENIORS 

Differences  between  the  Illinois  seniors  coming  from  the  differ- 
ent sections  of  the  state  and  from  schools  of  different  sizes.   As  a 

matter  of  information  and  interest  it  seems  well  to  present  and  dis- 
cuss briefly  certain  differences  between  the  seniors  coming  from  the 
three  different  geographical  sections  into  which  Illinois  was  divided 
for  the  purpose  of  this  study,  and  also  between  those  coming  from 
high  schools  of  different  sizes. 

Differences  in  intelligence.  In  Table  XVII  will  be  found  the 
distribution  of  I.Q.'s  for  the  seniors  from  the  three  sections  of  the 
state  and  in  Table  XVTII  for  those  from  the  five  classes  into  which 
the  schools  were  divided.  From  the  former  it  appears  that  the 
median  intelligence  quotient  of  those  from  the  northern  section  of  the 
state  is  105,  whereas  the  medians  for  those  from  the  other  two  sec- 
tions of  the  state  are  both  103.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  the  seniors 
from  the  northern  portion  of  the  state  are  slightly  more  intelligent. 

The  medians  for  those  from  different  sized  schools  show  a 
rather  marked  tendency  to  be  higher,  the  greater  the  size  of  the 
school.  The  highest  median,  106,  is  for  the  seniors  in  schools  of 
1.000  or  more  and  the  lowest,  102,  for  those  in  schools  of  less  than 
100.  The  only  break  in  the  tendency  for  the  median  to  increase 
with  the  size  of  the  school  is  found  in  the  case  of  Class  III,  the 
median  of  which  is  one  greater  than  is  the  median  of  Class  II. 

Differences  in  college  intentions.  Table  XIX  presents  the  dif- 
ferences in  college  intentions  according  to  the  sections  of  the  state 
from  which  the  seniors  came.  On  the  whole  there  are  few  significant 
differences.  The  central  section  has  larger  percents  of  seniors  intend- 
ing to  pursue  agricultural  and  commercial  courses  and  also  a  lower 
percent  definitely  intending  not  to  attend  college.  The  southern 
section  has  a  markedly  lower  proportion  of  seniors  expecting  to  take 
military  and  physical  training  courses.  The  other  differences  are  so 
small  that,  when  compared  with  their  probable  errors,  they  are  not 
very  reliable. 

The  differences  in  college  intentions  according  to  the  size  of  the 
school  vary  more  than  those  according  to  the  section  of  the  state.    A 

[Si] 


TABLE  XVII.— INTELLIGENCE  QUOTIENTS  OF  ILLINOIS  SENIORS  FROM 
THE  DIFFERENT  SECTIONS  OF  THE  ST.\TE 


Intelligence  Quotient 

Section 

60- 

70- 

80- 

90- 

100- 

110- 

120- 

130- 

Total 

Median 

Northern 

Central 

Southern  

7 
6 
4 

34 

54 
24 

342 
363 

155 

1525 

1105 

613 

2307 

1367 

799 

1304 

768 
408 

437 

159 

99 

33 

7 
8 

5989 
3829 
2110 

105 
103 
103 

All 

17 

112 

860 

3243 

4473 

2480 

695 

48 

11928 

104 

TABLE  XVHL— INTELLIGENCE  QUOTIENTS  OF  ILLINOIS  SENIORS  FROM 
HIGH  SCHOOLS  OF  DIFFERENT  SIZES 


Intelligence  Quotient 

Class 

60- 

70- 

80- 

90- 

100- 

110- 

120- 

130- 

Total 

Median 

I 

4 

6 

109 

622 

1047 

686 

237 

17 

2728 

106 

11 

2 

14 

113 

457 

602 

370 

96 

8 

1662 

104 

in 

1 

14 

80 

315 

585 

338 

89 

9 

1431 

105 

IV 

5 

45 

303 

1120 

1386 

724 

198 

10 

3791 

103 

V 

5 

33 

255 

729 

853 

362 

75 

4 

2316 

102 

All 

17 

112 

860 

3243 

4473 

2480 

695 

48 

11928 

104 

number  of  rather  pronounced  differences  may  be  seen  by  inspecting 
Table  XX.  The  percents  of  seniors  intending  to  take  courses  in  law, 
medicine,  military  and  physical  training  work  tend  to  increase  di- 
rectly with  the  size  of  the  school,  whereas  the  percents  of  those  in- 
tending to  take  agriculture,  commerce  and  education  do  just  the 
opposite.  There  was  also  a  tendency  for  a  greater  proportion  of 
seniors  from  large  schools  to  have  definite  intentions  not  to  attend 
college. 

Differences  in  vocational  choices.  Tables  XXI  and  XXII  show 
the  differences  in  vocational  choices  between  seniors  of  different 
sections  of  the  state  and  from  schools  of  different  sizes.    The  most 


[52] 


TABLE  XIX.— PERCENTS  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SENIORS  HAVING  VARIOUS 
COLLEGE  INTENTIONS,  BY  SECTIONS  OF  THE  STATE 


Section 

of  State 

College  Intentions 

Northern 

Central 

Southern 

All 

Aericulture 

1.9 
11.3 
14.1 
11.0 

2.5 
13.7 
.1 
5.1 
1.8 
3.1 
1.4 

3.0 

15.4 

15.7 

10.3 

1.8 

14.5 

.1 

4.0 

1.6 

2.7 

1.1 

2.1 
11.9 
16.2 
11.0 

1.9 

14.0 

.0 

6.3 
.5 

3.3 

1.3 

2.3 

Commerce 

12.8 

Education 

15.0 

Engineering 

10.8 

Law 

2.1 

Liberal  Arts 

14.1 

Librarian 

.1 

Medicine 

4.9 

Military  and  P.  T 

1.5 

Music 

Miscellaneous 

3.1 
1.3 

Total 

65.9 

70.2 

68.6 

67.8 

Undecided 

21.6 
12.5 

21.2 
8.6 

19.8 
11.5 

21.2 

No 

11.0 

notable  difference  between  the  sections  of  the  state  is  that  the  per- 
cent of  seniors  from  the  northern  section  intending  to  teach  is  about 
ten  less  than  from  the  other  sections.  To  balance  this  the  proportions 
of  seniors  from  the  northern  section  planning  to  enter  publicity  work, 
the  trades  and  the  other  professions  were  all  greater.  The  number 
in  the  central  section  who  chose  engineering  was  somewhat  low  and 
the  numbers  choosing  farming  and  forestry  and  philanthropic  work 
relatively  high.  The  southern  portion  of  the  state  has  the  smallest 
percents  in  about  one-half  of  the  occupational  groups. 

The  size  of  the  school,  which  is  almost  equivalent  to  saying  the 
size  of  the  community,  appears  to  be  connected  with  the  percents  of 
seniors  choosing  different  vocations  in  about  one-half  of  the  occupa- 
tional groups.  The  percents  of  those  who  chose  clerical  work,  engin- 
eering, law,  publicity  work,  trade  and  the  miscellaneous  professions 
very  definitely  tend  to  increase  directly  with  the  size  of  the  school, 
whereas  just  the  reverse  is  true  for  farming  and  forestry  and  teaching. 

A  word  of  explanation  and  comment  is  probably  worth  while 
concerning  the  large  differences  in  the  percents  of  those  expecting 


[53] 


TABLE  XX.— PERCENTS  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SENIORS  HAVING  VARIOUS    ! 
COLLEGE  INTENTIONS  BY  SIZES  OF  SCHOOLS 


CI 

ass 

College  Intentions 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

All 

Agriculture 

Commerce 

1.1 

11.1 

11.8 

11.3 

3.6 

16.2 

.1 

5.8 

2.0 

2.3 

1.3 

2.4 

11.6 

13.7 

10.7 

2.4 

13.3 

.3 

5.8 

1.9 

3.3 

2.2 

1.6 
12.4 
11.5 
10.6 

2.1 

15.5 

.1 

4.7 
.8 

2.7 

1.3 

2.9 

14.5 

16.5 

11.0 

1.6 

12.8 

.1 

4.6 

1.6 

2.4 

1.2 

3.0 

13.7 

18.7 

10.1 

1.1 

13.4 

.0 

4.1 

1.0 

3.4 

.8 

2.3 
12.8 

Education 

14.9 

Engineering 

10.8 

Law 

Liberal  Arts 

Librarian 

2.1 

14.1 

.1 

Medicine 

Military  and  P.  T 

4.9 
1.4 

Music 

Miscellaneous 

3.1 
1.3 

Total 

66.7 

67.5 

63.4 

70.0 

68.2 

67.8 

Undecided 

No 

21.3 
11.9 

17.8 
14.6 

23.3 
13.4 

20.9 
9.0 

22.5 
9.3 

21.2 

ii!o 

TABLE  XXI. 


-PERCENTS  OF  OCCUPATIONAL  CHOICES,  BY  SECTIONS 
OF  THE  STATE 


Section  of  State 

Occupational  Choice 

Northern 

Central 

Southern 

All 

Clerical  Work 

Engineering 

16.2 
13.4 

3.7 

3.4 

6.6 

.7 

2.5 

3. 

2.2 

"'.6 

34.6 

10.2 

2.5 

.5 

15.4 
10.6 
4.7 
2.2 
5!6 
1.0 
2. 

r!8 

2_ 

44.4 

7.6 

1.4 

.6 

15.8 

12.9 

3.1 

2.6 
6.4 

.5 
2. 
l!3 
2.4 

.5 
43.6 
7. 
1.8 

.1 

15.9 

12.3 

Farming  and  Forestry 

3.9 

Law 

Medicine 

Philanthropic  Work 

2.9 
6.3 

.8 

Public  Entertainment 

2.3 

Publicity 

2.3 

Skilled  Manuf.  and  Mech.  Work 

Skilled  Transportation  Work 

Teaching 

2.2 

.7 

39.2 

Trade 

8.8 

Miscellaneous  Professions 

Miscellaneous 

2.1 

.5 

[54] 


1  ABLE  XXIL— PERCEXTS  OF  OCCUPATIOXAL  CHOICES,  BY  SIZES  OF 

SCHOOLS 


Clc 

iss 

Occupational  Choice 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

All 

Clerical 

Engineering 

Farming  and  Forestry 

Law 

Medicine 

Philanthropic  Work 

Public  Entertainment 

Publicity 

18.1 
14.4 
1.4 
4.9 
6.8 
.8 
2.4 
3.4 

2.5 

.5 

27.8 

12.4 

3.6 

.9 

15.8 

13.3 

2.6 

3.5 
7.2 
.7 
2.9 
2.3 

!•? 

.5 

38.2 
8.6 

1.7 

.7 

17.7 
11.2 
3.4 
3.6 
6.5 
1. 
2.4 
2.5 

2.3 

.7 

38.7 

7.8 

1.9 

.1 

15.2 

12. 
5.5 
1.6 
5.4 
1. 
1.8 
1.6 

1.6 

.8 

42.6 

8.8 

1.6 

.4 

12.4 
10.4 
5.8 
1.1 
6.1 
.3 
2.2 
1.5 

2.9 

.7 

50.5 

5. 

.8 

.3 

15.9 
12.4 
3.9 
2.9 
6.3 
.7 
2.3 
2.3 

Skilled  Manuf.  and  Mech. 
Work 

2.2 

SkilledTransportationWork 
Teaching 

.6 

39.2 

Trade 

Miscellaneous  Professions .  . 
Miscellaneous 

8.8 
2.1 

.5 

to  teach.  It  will  be  recalled  that  the  percent  in  the  northern  section 
of  the  state  was  10  smaller  than  in  either  the  central  or  the  southern 
portion,  and  that  the  percent  in  schools  of  Class  I  was  10  smaller 
than  in  Class  II  and  over  20  smaller  than  in  Class  V.  These  two 
facts  are  very  closely  connected.  A  much  larger  proportion  of  the 
seniors  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  state  were  in  Class  I  schools. 
When  comparisons  are  made  within  the  same  class  the  difference 
between  the  sections  becomes  negligible  in  so  far  as  the  percents 
choosin?  teaching  are  concerned. 


[55] 


-\J 


K 


